OF MANY THINGS 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 Ph: (212) 581-4640; Fax: (212) 399-3596 Matt Malone, S.J., is traveling. pro-life and involved in left politics Subscriptions: (800) 627-9533 www.americamedia.org do not remember when I first can be “a bit of an island.” Almost all facebook.com/americamag learned what an abortion is. I do the women express frustration over twitter.com/americamag remember when I first got into a a political landscape that does not President and Editor in Chief I Matt Malone, S.J. fight over it. In seventh grade, a friend accommodate a consistently pro-life, of mine announced she was pro-choice, pro-woman ethic. “Agitated is a very Executive Editors Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy so my other friend called her a baby- good word,” says Addie Mena, “that Managing Editor Kerry Weber killer. I had not given much thought there doesn't seem to be a place for pro- Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. to the issue, but I must have heard life feminists in modern society.” Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent Kevin Clarke something about it in C.C.D., and I While learning that Ms. Bennett was Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. knew my parents were Republicans, so minutes away from being terminated Creative Director Shawn Tripoli I decided to stick with my tribe and join in the womb may not convince staunch Executive Editor, America Films Jeremy Zipple, S.J. defenders of reproductive rights to in the name-calling. Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. One might think the adults in support a 20-week abortion ban, it Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent the room would have found a more may help someone understand why Gerard O’Connell Associate Editor and Director of Digital productive way to talk about abortion she, as a black woman, sees the right to Strategy Sam Sawyer, S.J. than middle school mean-girls. Anyone life as fundamental to the civil rights Associate Editor & Director of Audience tuned in to the recent debates knows her heroes—Harriet Tubman, Martin Development Eric Sundrup, S.J. Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. otherwise—that people on both sides Luther King Jr.—risked their own Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga are all too ready to assume the worst lives for. And I do not doubt that there Segura, Robert David Sullivan about the other’s motivations. Pro-life are Americans who likewise have felt Associate Editor, Film José Dueño, S.J. Assistant Editor Joseph McAuley advocates accuse Planned Parenthood stigmatized or shamed for being pro- Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder of seeking to profit from baby parts. choice or having an abortion. Sharing Editorial Assistant for Digital Media Pro-choice advocates frame the slightest the stories of women on both sides of Zachary Davis Editorial Assistant Eloise Blondiau restriction on abortion by pro-life the debate has value beyond political O’Hare Fellows Teresa Donnellan, Nicholas advocates as an all-out war on women. point-scoring; it can change if not Genovese, Wyatt Massey That both Democrats and Republicans minds, then hearts. Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. have made abortion a litmus test of “At its best, reporting is an effort Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, party purity has not exactly elevated the to bear witness to the heartbeat of the Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider National Correspondent Michael O’Loughlin tone of the discussion. world and to name it, describe it and Regional Correspondents John Carr (Wash- But if you listen to the people behind give it back to the world in a way that ington), Anthony Egan, S.J., and Russell Pollitt, S.J. (Johannesburg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los the positions, you quickly realize how opens new conversations to understand Angeles), Timothy Padgett (Miami), David Stewart, unhelpful and obsolete such partisan truth.” So writes Elizabeth Dias, the S.J. (London), Rhona Tarrant (Dublin), Judith Valente (Chicago) framing is. Can you be pro-life and recipient of the 2016 George W. Hunt, Moderator, Catholic Book Club a feminist? What about a pro-life S.J., Prize, in this week’s issue. As a Kevin Spinale, S.J. socialist? Can a small-l libertarian journalist for Time, she does not tell Editor, The Jesuit Post Michael Rossmann, S.J. Editorial e-mail support restrictions on abortion? No stories with an agenda. But every act [email protected] question, say the millennials featured in of storytelling can be an exercise in Publisher and Chief Financial Officer a new video from America. For the film, empathy. “Once you know the heart’s Edward G. Spallone Deputy Publisher I had the chance to speak with young, beat, its aches and loves can take deeper Rosa M. Del Saz Vice President for Advancement Daniel Pawlus Advertising pro-life women from across the political shape,” she writes. “And in all of this Sales Manager Chris Keller Advancement spectrum who have encountered in messiness, the very human approaches Coordinator Timothy Bouffard Programs and Events Coordinator Nicholas Sawicki their respective corners much that is the very sacred.” Business Operations Staff Glenda Castro, dispiriting and dysfunctional about This is a beautiful way to understand Ryan Richardson, Anastasia Buraminskaya Advertising Contact ads@americamedia. abortion politics in this country. the vocation of a journalist. And it org; 212-515-0102 Subscription contact and There is the Republican Christina might just be the best way forward for Additional copies 1-800-627-9533 Reprints: [email protected] Bennett, an African-American woman the country to begin to close the deep who has been called a racist for her divisions laid bare by this dispiriting © 2016 America Press Inc. pro-life advocacy. Elizabeth Bruenig, a and dysfunctional election year. Democratic Socialist, says that being ASHLEY McKINLESS Cover: iStockphoto.com/MarioGuti. Contents www.americamagazine.org VOL. 215 NO.16, WHOLE NO. 5147 November 14, 2016

ARTICLES 15 THE HEART BEAT Reporting on the rhythms of faith Elizabeth Dias 21 SPIRITUAL COSTS OF DEBT Financial servitude is shaping the faith of young American Catholics. Sean Salai 24 PAYDAY PREDATORS Protecting our most vulnerable from debt is an act of mercy. Edward J. Weisenburger

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 15 4 Current Comment

5 Editorial What to Do About Dictators? 6 Reply All 9 Signs of the Times

14 Column Answering Our Daughters ​Helen Alvaré 26 Vatican Dispatch Francis for the Poor Gerard O’Connell 27 Faith in Focus Correction Course Donald Lee 29 Philosopher’s Notebook Undercover Grief John J. Conley 21 38 The Word Kingdom of the Son John W. Martens BOOKS & CULTURE

30 THEATER “The Alchemist” BOOKS American Maelstrom; The High Places; Free Speech POEM Iphigenia Leaving Tauris

ON THE WEB James Martin, S.J., begins a weekly series of short video reflections on hisfavorite saints. Plus, Los Angeles correspondent Jim McDermott, S.J., talks religion and television on “America This Week.” Full digital highlights on page 19 and at americamagazine.org. 30 CURRENT COMMENT

decreases in the cost of renewable infrastructure. It expects A Spiteful Marriage Law renewable sources to produce nearly 30 percent of the global "We don’t want terrorists obtaining green cards and electricity supply by 2021. These developments suggest the citizenship through marriage.” That was the rationale behind practical timetable for a transition to renewable energy— Louisiana’s ban on issuing marriage licenses to foreign-born which could significantly mitigate the effects of climate applicants who cannot produce birth certificates, according change—may be accelerating. The argument that renewable to the state legislator who sponsored the law. In reality, the sources are unreliable or too costly seems increasingly thin in ban, which took effect this year, does nothing to combat the face of such rapid real-world adjustments. terrorism. Its effect has been to deny licenses to dozens of China, fighting a profound air pollution problem in refugees, primarily from Southeast Asia, who have no way of its major cities, is increasing its renewable energy at twice obtaining birth certificates. the rate of the United States. It will have the edge in The law is no more than an expression of hostility renewable technology and commercial production unless toward immigrants and refugees, similar to the poisonous Washington wakes up to the challenge and the opportunities rhetoric that has been directed toward refugees of the of this evolving energy landscape. Instead of becoming civil war in Syria. It is echoed in the unnecessary bans on bogged down in fights about pipelines, state and national Shariah law passed by at least nine states out of fear that it policymakers should focus on advancing the coming might somehow override the U.S. and state constitutions, transition to renewable energy sources and in the hostility toward providing basic health care for undocumented immigrants. In the closing days of the presidential campaign, Bishop Free Speech on Facebook Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, chairman of the Committee When Facebook employees noted that a number of Donald on Migration of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, J. Trump’s posts—for example, his call for a ban on Muslims wrote that Catholics “have a special responsibility to reject entering the United States—violated the site’s hate speech the hostility that dominates the public conversation about policy, Mark Zuckerberg stepped in to preserve them in the immigration today.” The Louisiana marriage license law, name of free speech. In a leaked internal message published which panders to xenophobic voters, is now being challenged by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Zuckerberg explained: “I in court by a man who was born to Vietnamese parents in know there are strong views on the election this year both an Indonesian refugee camp and became a U.S. citizen at the in the US and around the world. We see them play out on age of 8. The law should be overturned or repealed, and the Facebook every day. Our community will be stronger for its waste of time and money in enacting and defending the law differences—not only in areas like race and gender, but also should stand as a deterrent to similarly pointless legislation. in areas like political ideology and religion.” It is surprising to see Facebook’s chief executive employ a Energy Optimism moral defense of free speech. Mr. Zuckerberg has claimed on In North Dakota, the construction of an oil pipeline under numerous occasions that Facebook is “a tech company, not a a river that supplies drinking water to the Standing Rock media company” and thus remains neutral toward content. Sioux tribe has created a 19th-century-style showdown His willingness to discuss competing values is far more over territorial lands and treaty rights. Renewable energy persuasive than the company’s typical insistence that it is not optimists might argue that confrontations over efforts to tap accountable for what appears in a user’s news feed. and move fossil fuel represent misplaced energy at a time Implicit moral values baked into algorithms and filters when the United States could be making deeper investments should be made more explicit and discussed across the in alternative sources that would make such conflicts technology industry. Even as Facebook protects Mr. Trump’s anachronistic. free speech in the name of allowing political debate, it That position received some support from the has been accused of suppressing posts that expose police International Energy Agency, which reported on Oct. 25 brutality. As more of our news is filtered through social that renewable energy surpassed coal in 2015 as the largest media, we should demand honesty and transparency about source of installed power capacity in the world. The agency how these information gatekeepers shape public discourse. also bumped up its five-year growth forecast for renewables Claiming, “We are a technology company” does not exempt by 13 percent because of stronger backing for renewables in Facebook from criticism for the impact it has on important the United States, China, India and Mexico and significant moral and civic discussions.

4 America November 14, 2016 EDITORIAL What to Do About Dictators? hat can a nation or church do when its leaders and profits from oil and gas evaporated. mislead? Some political leaders take the “strong Meanwhile, money that should have Wman” approach, using violence to win popular gone to education, public health and support and to distract from domestic problems. Can their infrastructure was spent on rebuilding strategy be morally justified if they bring about peace, or at armed forces and subsidizing the least the semblance of peace? Not if they defy civil, interna- vodka industry. One of the tragic and tional or the moral law. Not if they sacrifice innocent life. underreported stories coming out of President Vladimir Putin, to re-establish Russia as a Russia is the ways in which the state global superpower and solidify his own presidency, annexed has promoted excessive drinking to increase tax revenues and Crimea and infiltrated eastern Ukraine with disguised military eliminate dissent by subduing its own populace. Meanwhile, units with the possible intent of annexing it as well. He has Mr. Putin has polished his image as a world leader. entered the Syrian civil war on behalf of President Bashar Possible responses to Mr. Putin include strengthening al-Assad in order to retain a murderous dictator in power NATO’s European presence, increased economic sanctions and, above all, to acquire a seaport and military presence for and more creative diplomacy. Unfortunately the Russian Russia. Although he presented his role as assisting the United Orthodox Church, under the leadership of Patriarch Kirill, States in its battle against the Islamic State, his bombs have enthusiastically supports Mr. Putin’s expansionism. Patriarch fallen on Mr. Assad’s opponents, on hospitals, on schools and Kirill believes that church and state should work together on an international convoy bringing food and medicine to since, with the fall of Communism, Russia has lacked “an embattled civilians. As a result of its conduct in Syria, Russia ideological binding agent.” But by working with the state the recently lost its seat on the United Nation’s Human Rights church has sacrificed its prophetic voice. Council. In the Philippines, Mr. Duterte has insulted Pope An equally distressing example of “strong man” Francis and ridiculed the Catholic Church for its stands on government is in the Philippines. Thousands of alleged drug birth control and the death penalty, its reliance on ancient dealers have been killed since Rodrigo Duterte was elected Scriptures and its “hypocrisy” on sexual abuse. Meanwhile president in May. As mayor of Davao City, Mr. Duterte the bishops’ conference has denounced vigilantism and the ordered the killings of not just criminals but of his political bounties paid to police who kill drug suspects. In a statement opponents, and on one occasion, according to a self-confessed on Oct. 2 titled “Confused and Sad Yet Hopeful,” Archbishop assassin, “finished off ” a suspect with a machine gun. More Socrates Villegas, the president of the bishops' conference, than 3,600 persons have been killed without due process lamented “the slow erosion of Filipino values” as the country since Mr. Duterte’s inauguration. Death squads strike quickly and its new president carry out a violent war on drugs. at night, dragging individuals from their homes, killing them The United States and other nations and international and dumping the bodies with cardboard signs on or near them bodies can deplore these developments from afar, but stronger that say “Drug Lord.” On Oct. 28 a mayor who was publicly interventions offer multiple hazards of their own. Ultimately, accused by Mr. Duterte of having links to the drug trade was change must come from within and below. The regimes of killed by police. leaders like Mr. Putin and Mr. Duterte offer the church, as Both strongmen—particularly Mr. Putin, who has well as every citizen, an opportunity to present themselves neutralized the Russian media—have a grip on power so as the presence of Christ in today’s world, where the value at profound that they ward off any opposition. What can be stake is that of human life. done? When political leaders take or endanger lives to shore The United States and its allies cannot ignore this up their own positions, inflate their international standing problem. Nor should they adopt a position of moral or advance dubious social agendas, they need to be resisted. triumphalism, arguing that “the Cold War is over and we won.” The church has an important role to play in that resistance, That war ended because both sides saw the horror of nuclear especially when other civic forces have failed. Religious leaders warfare and Mikhail Gorbachev, in his call for dialogue and must work with each other and with other leaders in their cooperation, had set the stage for democracy. But power societies to find the resolve and courage to speak out against corrupted and society crumbled as the Russian economy sank strength built on immoral foundations.

November 14, 2016 America 5 REPLY ALL in Russia the rich play while justice doing and where he was, before start- flounders, but Russia’s clean streets ing to sink in his panic. I think that in Disillusionment and fewer homeless show a less cruel a World Youth Day sermon, St. John Re “In Praise of Politics,” (Editorial civic culture than ours. Russians see us Paul II invited our youngsters to come 10/24): It seems to me that disillu- much less wholesome than we do our- farther, wade deeper. I'll remember sionment extends far beyond politics. selves. that line, Father Martin. We look to our church and its lead- I also see Dostoyevsky as Father FRANK LAUCHER ers for unity and to speak out against Schroth does, as a supreme artist; Online Comment those who treat the gift of life so poor- but I am curious about whom Father ly. We, the congregation, need our Schroth sees as the second greatest Let’s Participate More priests, church leaders and organiza- Russian writer. I have never wished to Re “Third Party,” by Ross McCullough tions to be on the same page with us visit Russia, but now the embers burn, (10/24): I think we should participate in denouncing the reality of evil that as does my curiosity about the author's more after the election is over. Write, clearly divides us regarding social is- literary favorites. call, collectively assembly to demon- sues and injustice. Hopefully, this elec- MICHAEL BURKE strate our concern, visit our legislators tion is an eye-opener for all about just Brookline, Mass. in person and make good arguments how far the sheep have strayed, inside on issues on which we want to see A Little Farther and outside the church. positive action. Is this participation in MARTHA MURRAY Re “Not Yet a Saint” (10/24): This is helping our legislators know what pol- Online Comment one of your best, Father Martin! This icies people want enacted part of what line really leapt out at me: “Come on, Mr. McCullough calls sausage-mak- Justice Flounders just a little farther.” It reminded me of ing? I don't think so; this term deni- I much enjoyed the piece by Raymond the example of Peter walking on wa- grates the process of making good pol- A. Schroth, S.J., “Rethinking Russia” ter toward Jesus. Peter walked a few icy. Special interests often have more (10/24) and wonder if transition is steps with his eyes on Jesus and then influence than we ordinary citizens, on the cards. As in the United States, looked around, realizing what he was but we could have a positive impact if we are persistent. All of this helps to educate our legislators about real peo- ple with real issues. CATHERINE STANFORD Online Comment

Judicial Appointments Re “Docket Review,” by Ellen K. Boegel (10/24): I think it’s reasonable to avoid holding hearings on a nominee by a president who is soon leaving office and wait for a new president chosen by the people. What “soon” means can be debated. But it makes no difference— any party in power in Congress under circumstances like the present would insist on waiting and, regardless, this one has. So the conclusion may seem to be: Get out and vote. But you can’t really vote for a president on the basis of this issue alone, important as it may be. For me, as for many people, there is no way I could vote for anyone who would make the kind of judicial ap- pointments I believe are important. BILL McGEVERAN SR. Online Comment

6 America November 14, 2016 Too Much To Ask lines and sewer systems, and I depend Catholic Workers, White Rose is part In “Stand-Down for U.S. Police?” on fossil fuels for transportation. of a long tradition of resistance and (Current Comment, 10/17), the point Some aspects of this connectedness community building started by Peter is well made that increased training might be good. But the consequences Maurin and Dorothy Day in the 1930s. and re-evaluation of training for police of our interrelatedness make it more Models of “refusal” in many ways, Day, departments are necessary. A key issue difficult to act as though we truly be- Maurin and many Catholic Workers is whether local governments are will- long to each other. The systems we are since have resisted the government by ing or able to fund such efforts. Even a part of can hurt workers at home and committing acts of nonviolent civil dis- if such training were accomplished, abroad, innocent citizens of countries obedience: refusing to pay taxes, to be it would not resolve the overall mis- with which we are at war, migrants drafted or to register as nonprofits, and sion of police departments. Earlier fleeing violence, people living in pover- criticizing state-sponsored welfare pro- this year, David Brown, the African- ty or future generations who need the grams. American police chief in Dallas, said earth to remain a livable environment. Yet Maurin and Day stood for much that we are asking our police force Sometimes, it is precisely for the sake more than refusal. Their whole manner to do too much. He further said that of recognizing our connection to—and of thinking was based around a posi- in every societal failure, we put it on responsibility for—our fellow humans tive message rooted in the Gospel: the the cops to solve. Not enough mental that we build movements that include recognition of the value of each human, health funding? Let the cops handle it. a strong element of protest and refusal. and the premise that we must take re- That is too much to ask. Policing was And when we begin from the premise sponsibility for recognizing that value never meant to solve all problems. So, that we belong to each other, we do not through direct acts of service, voluntary if we are going to ask U.S. police to just resist the “reigning social system” poverty, pacifism and communal living. stand down, let's also ask the same of for the sake of resistance; we also have a The movement they started is respon- our elected officials who are simply not constructive vision to work toward. sible for hundreds of houses of hospi- doing their job. I first realized how difficult—and tality (including the Oakland Catholic KEN BALASKOVITS beautiful—this kind of resistance can Worker, where I live and work), which Park Ridge, Ill. be when I visited White Rose Catholic focus on meeting the needs of their lo- Worker Farm in La Plata, Mo. If you cal communities. Positive Resistance ask members of White Rose what they Whether we choose belonging or re- As Patrick Gilger, S.J., says in his article are against, they might have a long list, fusal, we are at our best when all of our “Re-enchanting the World” (10/10), it including militarism, global warming, decisions are centered around the peo- is hard to find belonging in an age where consumerism, torture and exploitation ple we try to serve—particularly Latin we lack a sense of common meaning. As of workers. It is their opposition to American immigrants living in our a result, Father Gilger explains, protest these forms of violence and oppression area but also other neighbors in East movements can become a major source that led them to refuse things many Oakland, our nation and people around of commonality. But, he argues, bonds Americans consider necessities—paid the world. What impresses me most based on resistance and refusal are frag- employment, cars, pre-packaged food, about the Oakland Catholic Worker is ile if they lack a positive orientation. indoor plumbing and electricity—in the community of hundreds of donors Yet, while belonging is tenuous in order to avoid paying taxes that fund and volunteers who contribute to our some ways, being a part of certain sys- unjust wars, polluting the environment work each year: the staff, volunteers and tems is the nearly unavoidable default. and supporting unethical businesses. board members who came to receive Simply being a U.S. citizen, for exam- Yet they might also tell you that dis- help and returned to serve others; the ple, makes me complicit in anything the tancing themselves from many main- guests who braved the border to make government does in my name or with stream institutions and practices has a better life for their children; and the my tax dollars—from deporting un- made them closer to God, nature and kids who steal our office supplies, care documented immigrants and bombing their fellow humans. As they see it, dis- for their younger siblings and brighten foreign countries to funding schools, connecting as much as they can from our lives with their artwork. We may infrastructure projects and services to the U.S. government, the global econ- not have put the world back together those in need. I, along with the vast omy and modern technology has not but, while we work on that, we try to majority of Americans, cannot meet isolated them; it is this very detachment exemplify the positive goal of resistance my basic needs without using products that frees them to live lives of sacrifice, by bringing our community together. produced by people I do not know. I am community and joy. MARIA BENEVENTO connected to public power grids, water- While more extreme than many Oakland, Calif.

November 14, 2016 America 7 8 America November 14, 2016 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

CARE OF CREATION non-Catholics, who not only resist- ed the message but defended their As Mass Extinction Threatens, Are pre-existing beliefs by devaluing the pope’s credibility on climate change,” Catholics Listening to ‘Laudato Si’’? wrote Nan Li, the lead author of the report. But Dan Misleh, the ex- ecutive director of Catholic Climate Covenant, found the report itself and the tim- ing of its release a bit of a head-scratcher. According to Annenberg, the data used in its study was obtained from almost 1,400 20-minute phone interviews conducted one week before the release of “Laudato Si’” on June 18, 2015, and an- other 1,400 or so interviews two weeks later. Why release that study now when the data is more than a year old, he asks, and why not look at a

CRITICAL CONDITION. Scientists say the Puget Sound Orca population near Seattle, longer timeframe to determine Wash., is seriously threatened because of the decline of a major food source, chinook an impact? Mr. Misleh noted salmon, caused by dams on the Lower Snake River. that a Yale study released in November 2015 in fact tracked he global wildlife population has fallen 58 percent from 1970, accord- a significant impact on public attitudes ing to “The Living Planet” report by the World Wildlife Fund and the that it attributed to “Laudato Si’.” TZoological Society of London. Researchers say deforestation, pollution, He suggested that at the time of overfishing and the illegal wildlife trade, together with climate change, “are push- Annenberg researchers were making ing species populations to the edge.” their calls, probably few lay Catholics, “For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we much less people from other denom- face a global mass extinction of wildlife,” said Mike Barrett, director of science and inations, had yet found the time to policy at W.W.F.-U.K., in a written statement. “We ignore the decline of other read through the nearly 200-page en- species at our peril—for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the cyclical. Worse, he adds, the attention world that sustains us.” of the nation was properly distracted The report, released on Oct. 27, predicts that by 2020, populations of verte- in the timeframe of the phone survey brate species could fall by 67 percent from 1970 levels unless action is taken to by the horror of the Charleston, S.C., reverse the damaging impacts of human activity. church massacre. In his encyclical “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis issued some stern warnings on the The Annenberg study may have care of creation. Did the encyclical have an effect by encouraging lifestyle changes measured personal views and found the that may help diminish or even reverse the trends depicted in the “Living Planet” pope’s impact wanting, but it is hard to report? argue that the pope’s encyclical did not Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center reported in a study re- have a political impact on the problem. leased on Oct. 24 that a Francis effect through “Laudato Si’” so far remains hard His message on climate change and to discern. care of creation was at the forefront “While Pope Francis’ environmental call may have increased some individu- of international policy discussions, als’ concerns about climate change, it backfired with conservative Catholics and being included within months at his-

November 14, 2016 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES toric speeches before Congress and initiatives that emerged, and continue ect said women of various perspectives the United Nations; by December it to appear, in reaction to “Laudato Si’.” are being sought to preach. brought a spiritual ethic on climate “There were like 110 statements “We’ll have the most fabulous, change into the Paris climate change or press release or articles written by theologically educated and faith-filled negotiations that eventually led to a bishops within two weeks after it was Catholic women from around the historic compact to confront the prob- released,” Mr. Misleh said. “I don’t world offering five- to seven-minute lem. think the bishops have ever responded reflections on the Catholic lection- Mr. Misleh was aware anecdotally that way to an encyclical letter.” ary,” said Elizabeth Donnelly, another of many parish- and community-based KEVIN CLARKE founder of the project and part of a team that meets annually with church officials in Rome to talk about women WOMEN IN THE CHURCH in the church. The project is scheduled to launch Unprecedented Preaching on Nov. 1, in time for Advent, and the ne of the more intriguing ques- Church law allows laypeople, in- first half-dozen videos include reflec- tions Pope Francis prompted cluding women, to preach only in tions from a mix of Catholic women Oearlier this year when he an- extraordinary circumstances, when religious and laywomen. nounced that a Vatican commission an ordained minister is not avail- Kicking off the series is Jamie would study whether the early church able. Though it is rare, women have Phelps, O.P., a retired Catholic theolo- had women deacons was: How gian who lives in Chicago. She would Catholics react to wom- FIRST UP. Sister Jamie said she accepted an invitation Phelps, O.P., of Chicago, en preaching? began the “Catholic to be part of the series because Some Catholic women hope Women Preach” series she thinks the videos will to find out. on Nov. 1. “make plain the fact that some A new website called women are called and gifted as Catholic Women Preach will preachers.” publish videos showing just “Since there’s a diversity of that, Catholic women preach- perspectives and experiences ing. The women’s reflections out there,” she said, “the more will draw from the church’s diversity of preachers we have weekly readings. The women who can tune into the felt backing the project say they needs of the community and of hope the videos will help Catholics preached in some U.S. churches. In the people, the further along the mis- deepen their faith and become more the Diocese of Rochester, for example, sion of Jesus Christ is carried.” comfortable with the idea of women laypeople were permitted to preach by Organizers said that women from preaching. the local bishop beginning in 1979, all over the world will take part. “The kinds of things that women but the practice was ended in 2014. Sister Phelps, who is African- preach about are qualitatively differ- And even if women are ordained American and who will preach about ent and touch us in ways that other deacons someday, there is no guarantee overcoming class, race and ethnic di- topics don’t touch us,” Deborah Rose- that they will be allowed to preach— visions, said that in an increasingly Milavec, executive director of Future at least not in the way Catholics are ac- secular society, the church would ben- Church and a founder of Catholic customed to today. In comments ear- efit from expanding opportunities for Women Preach, told America. lier this year, the pope suggested that women to preach. “Even if it’s a bit of a foreign ex- priests, acting in persona Christi during “I’m not saying that everybody needs perience to them,” she continued, the Mass, should give the homily. But to preach,” she said. “But there are gifts “once people begin to listen deeply to there would be “no problem,” he said, out there that are not being recognized, the wisdom and the words of these with women offering scriptural reflec- not being nurtured, not being used to Catholic women preaching, it also will tions in other settings, like prayer ser- continue the mission of Jesus Christ.” touch them in brand new ways.” vices. One of the founders of the proj- MICHAEL O’LOUGHLIN

10 America November 14, 2016 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Catholic Caring NEWS BRIEFS Three Catholic charitable organi- zations that support programs in Iraqi Christians gathered on Oct. 25 at the United States and around the the Church of our Lady of Perpetual Help world rank among the top 100 in Ainkawa, Turkey, to offer prayers of sup- groups in terms of fundraising on port for Iraqi forces pressing an offensive “Philanthropy 400,” a list maintained against the Islamic State around Mosul. • by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela Catholic Charities USA fell one spot met privately with Pope Francis an Oct. on the list from last year to number 24 as the Vatican began a mediation effort five, raising about $2 billion in 2015. to end the political and economic crisis in A prayer for Mosul That is down about 4 percent com- Venezuela. • Rapid growth in the number pared with the year before. The U.S. of men entering St. John’s Seminary prompted the Archdiocese of Catholic Church’s main international Boston to buy back space from Boston College on Oct. 20. • Italy’s charity, Catholic Relief Services, came Interior Ministry released figures on Oct. 28 documenting a record in at number 61. It raised almost $391 monthly landing of 26,161 migrants—almost all from West Africa million, a jump of 8 percent compared and the Horn of Africa—while another 1,000 were pulled from with the year before. New York-based dinghies on the Mediterranean later that day. • The South African Catholic Medical Mission Board, government announced on Oct. 20 that it plans to withdraw from which works to improve health care the International Criminal Court, provoking fears of widespread in developing nations, was ranked 93. abandonment of the court throughout the continent. • The camp for It raised about $276 million in 2015. undocumented migrants in Calais, France, known as “the jungle,” The University of Notre Dame came was cleared out by French security forces on Oct. 26 as some frus- in at number 63, raising close to $380 trated, departing migrants set fire to parts of the slum. million last year, up nearly 19 percent from the previous year.

Cardinal Pell Answers the accusations as “nothing more than warns that once European Union a scandalous smear campaign,” and a funding for the integration of this Aussie Police Inquiry statement issued by his office said that group is withdrawn post-Brexit, the Australian police questioned Cardinal “claims that he has sexually abused U.K. government may not make up the George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat anyone, in any place, at any time in his shortfall. “These communities, already for the Economy, in Rome regarding life are totally untrue and completely among the most disadvantaged in our accusations of sexual abuse. Cardinal wrong.” society, now find themselves newly vul- Pell was “voluntarily interviewed” by nerable in a number of ways. There is Victoria police in late October, said a uncertainty over their future right of statement on Oct. 26 from the cardi- After-Brexit Worries residency; they will feel insecure given nal’s office. “The cardinal repeats his The U.K.’s Catholic Association for the recent rise in hate crime; and E.U. previous rejection of all and every alle- Racial Justice plans to identify and funding to support Roma integration gation of sexual abuse and will continue support specific groups who have be- may cease.” The association has joined to cooperate with Victoria police until come newly vulnerable since Brexit. the Caritas Social Action Network the investigation is finalized,” the state- Long involved in supporting Gypsy, in encouraging members of the U.K. ment said. Allegations surfaced in July Roma and Traveller communities, the Catholic community to make them- in a report by Australia’s ABC News association welcomed a report, “Roma selves aware of the issues raised in the featuring several people who accused Communities and Brexit,” from the report and to become actively involved Cardinal Pell of sexual assault; at least Institute of Public Policy. The study in public discussion about how Brexit one of the accusations had been found traces the migration of Roma com- will affect Roma communities. to be unsubstantiated by an Australian munities from Central and Eastern court in 2002. Cardinal Pell dismissed Europe to the United Kingdom and From America Media, CNS, RNS, AP and other sources.

November 14, 2016 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DISPATCH | JOHANNESBURG ger issues—the decision to withdraw South Africa from the jurisdictional A Bananas Republic? requirements of the I.C.C., for ex- ample, or the attempts to undermine his may not be a very politi- Must Fall” has since 2015 been calling Mr. Gordhan and the recently retired cally correct statement, but for free tertiary state education (Most public protector, Thuli Madonsela. Tthere are days in South Africa universities in South Africa are state- Ms. Madonsela had led a campaign to now when one feels one is living in an owned and state-subsidized, a legacy clean up a government marked by cor- asylum run by the patients. Chaos of our British past.) Classes have been ruption at the highest level, gross mis- and intransigence in the universities disrupted, and violence and vandal- management and “state capture” of key is matched by absurd criminal charges ism have occurred on most campuses. national resources by business allies of against a minister of finance who may The movement, modeling itself on the the president himself, the India-based only be doing his job too well. In the Arab Spring, has taken a legitimate Gupta family. latter case, President Jacob Zuma concern—the inability of talented While the media focused on the brushes off the crisis by asserting poor students to afford an education, universities, Mr. Zuma and his cro- that he cannot do anything about the cuts in education subsidies and mis- nies used their political influence to charges against Minister Pravin indict Mr. Gordhan. While police Gordhan because the law must A conspiracy theorist fire rubber bullets and stun gre- take its course, lest South Africa nades at students, Mr. Zuma pre- become a “banana republic.” This might speculate that the vents his former public protector’s is said as his government starts street movement exists to report on state capture to be re- the process of withdrawing leased while her newly appointed from the International Criminal distract the public from successor, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Court. bigger issues. goes on holiday in Venice. South Africa’s National In short, this is the season of Prosecuting Authority have lies, damn lies and bananas. made various attempts to indict management of the student grants In Make or Break: How the Next Mr. Gordhan, a stubborn critic of system—and turned it into what is Three Years Will Shape South Africa’s the Zuma government. The charges becoming a rebellion against the state. Next Three Decades (Cape Town: change, but in every instance they It has also become a convenient Zebra Press), published a few weeks range from the trivial to the absurd. sideshow that offers a range of inter- ago, the lawyer and political analyst The whole process seems a desperate pretations. Given that most univer- Richard Calland warns that the out- attempt to remove the diligent min- sity administrations and most South come of the Gordhan crisis may have ister from office so that he may be Africans sympathize with the idea of a lasting impact on the country. If Mr. replaced by a Zuma-compliant fig- affordable tertiary education, the in- Gordhan and his growing number ure who will sign checks to bail out transigence of the movement’s leaders of allies both within the center and South African Airways—run into the invites the speculation that their true “sensible left” faction of the A.N.C. ground by a Zuma appointee—and goal may be to render the state ungov- and within wider civil society succeed, seal the deal with the Russian atom- ernable. At the very least, the student South Africa has a chance of recovery. ic energy developer Rosatom for the unrest highlights the thousands of pro- If Mr. Gordhan fails, the nation will construction of power stations that tests every year that reflect the failure be on the path to the banana republic will effectively bankrupt the country. of government and the ruling African status Mr. Zuma so cynically alluded Meanwhile, the national university National Congress party to deliver on to. system is paralyzed by violent strikes. its election promises. The A.N.C. had My sense is that when Mr. Zuma A protest movement called “Fees promised free tertiary education in its warns of a banana republic, he is being election campaign in 2013. disingenuous. He and his associates A real conspiracy theorist might too often appear to be seeking to turn ANTHONY EGAN, S.J., a member of the Jesuit Institute South Africa, is one of America’s speculate that the street movement this into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Johannesburg correspondents. exists to distract the public from big- ANTHONY EGAN

12 America November 14, 2016 November 14, 2016 America 13 HELEN ALVARÉ Answering Our Daughters

was addressing a diocesan wom- to Mary as the human who conformed women to know real freedom—the en’s conference when the mother herself most closely to Christ. She freedom of the daughters of Christ— Iof a teenage girl asked me a diffi- was as brave and strong as any per- then it needs to make the case more cult question. If I do not have a better son imaginable. Still, no one should visibly, and more intentionally directed answer next time—and if the church be surprised that many 21st-century to women’s new historical situation. universal does not have more answers Catholic women do not clearly grasp This is hard, and I can offer only to offer soon—I wonder how we will her. There is no “vicar of Mary.” Mary initial suggestions. Perhaps more fe- engage girls of the 21st century. is known most as “mother,” while con- male saints who have juggled the de- Her daughter wanted to know how temporary women are single longer mands of the contemporary female to relate to a church where a father and more often single mothers. We are life! Certainly also more insights from God sends a son whose good news is also employees and not infrequently qualified women wherever doctrine proclaimed most visibly by a male hi- breadwinners for our fam- and pastoral practices erarchy. ilies. are deliberated: synods, I am not a theologian. Bummer. But Women are more used Women’s bishops’ conferences, I did the best I could with the classic to operating independently comparative diocesan and parish responses. I spoke of taking Jesus’ in- in some spheres and to col- groups. If the church carnation seriously while remember- laborating with men in oth- advantages takes God’s two-sexed ing the Marian face of the church. I ers. We participate in the must be image seriously—and referred to the problem of mistaking governance of institutions it does—then it is clear ordination for a power trip. I affirmed that affect us. At work, we joined to that women’s compar- equality alongside a diversity of sexes find female role models of ative advantages must and roles. I argued for God’s image efficacy in formerly all-male men’s. be joined to men’s in or- as two-sexed and Jesus’ good news as environs. We struggle to der to understand God transcending the listener’s sex. I spoke put family first while also and the Christian life. of the many vowed and laywomen doing justice at work. This is not to fall into the clericalism who already lead Catholic efforts, and In the personal realm, most women trap. Rather, substantial collaboration of the near invisibility of women’s he- desire both children and commitment should help men to better experience roic family and service work. from their father but have revealed a their work as service and women to But I still felt inadequate. willingness to enjoy the former with- value their contributions precisely as A male clergy running the most im- out the latter, if that is the best we can women. Surely, too, this would better portant institutions in Catholic lives, get. We are regularly told that sexual reveal the Marian church Pope Francis dispensing moral guidance and weekly availability unlinked from children celebrates. interpreting revelation, would seem and marriage is the starting block of There are inevitable moral hazards powerful in anybody’s book. Even as a relationship. Look “hot,” and every- when any one group leads an enter- we know their work to be service. Even thing else will follow. prise. There are inevitable lacunae as we know their sacrifices on our be- It can be argued for all the “clas- when any affected group is excluded half. sic” reasons listed above that young from significant collaboration. Women We proclaim Christ as the model Catholic women can manage without are living in a new historical era. If human, that Christology is anthropol- more visible female role models within the church is to be for younger wom- ogy. Of course, women and men look the church, more collaboration with en what it is meant to be for all—the clergy and more guidance pertinent to living Christ present at every point in women. And it is true that the church history—I suggest we provide some HELEN​ ALVARÉ is a professor of law at George Mason University, where she teaches law and should not operate like IBM. I am new forms of witness, dialogue and religion and family law. saying only that if the church wants representation for women.

14 America November 14, 2016 Reporting on the rhythms of faith CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING CNS PHOTO/PAUL The Heart Beat BY ELIZABETH DIAS

he creator of the news magazine knew the power of religion. Henry Luce, the founder of Time, was born to Presbyterian missionary parents in China at the end of the 19th century. He grew up writing sermons for fun. And he made religion one of the five pillars of Time’s coverage. Luce once said, “I A BIG STORY. Pope became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.” Francis greets journalists The heart loves; the heart aches. It can wound and it can break. And, through all that, aboard his flight to Havana T on Feb. 12. the heart does something more: it beats. Most of the time we do not even notice it. But that pulse orders our lives and the lives of others. When it is working right, the heart pumps blood through the body, five or six quarts a minute, and gives us life. When it is not, the mere skip of a beat can feel like a heart attack. Reporting is an exercise in monitoring that beat, noticing when and how it changes,

ELIZABETH DIAS is a religion and politics correspondent for Time magazine. She is the 2016 winner of the George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts and Letters. This is the text of the lecture she gave at the award ceremony held at Yale University on Sept. 29, 2016. For information about the prize, visit americamagazine.org/huntprize.

November 14, 2016 America 15 sometimes sounding an alarm when it races or slows or fal- an had a prophecy, and the pastor rushed the microphone ters. Most often, reporting is simply being there with the to her: “The Lord will heal people in this room today!” she heart, hearing it pump, feeling it beat, in a moment, over cried in Spanish. “Gloria a Dios!” weeks and even through the years. The worshipers, as you might have guessed, were not Today the pulse of American spiritual life is shifting. Catholics. They were Protestants, born-again, Bible- There is not just one pulse. There are many, and they of- believing, Spanish-speaking charismatics. They represent ten conflict. There is the rise of the so-called spiritual nones, one of the fastest-growing segments of American churchgo- the “Godless generation”; the growing acceptance of lesbian, ers. More than two-thirds of the 52 million Latinos in the gay and transgender communities in churches, Protestant United States in 2010 were Catholic, according to the Pew and Catholic; the global migration Research Center. At the time, the of people, unaccompanied children Elizabeth Dias takes the podium to best guess was that by 2030 that leaving Central America, Syrians deliver the 2016 Hunt Prize lecture. figure would be closer to half. But fleeing terrorism, refugees seeking today that number is almost there. shelter and, in all, the interfaith shuf- Nearly one in four Latinos in the fle that it brings; Americans’ contin- United States is a former Catholic. ued fear of Muslims and mispercep- And many are flocking to these tion of Shariah law; the rise of wom- evangelical Protestant churches. en in religious leadership; violence And many of these churches are against black and brown bodies; the doubling in size every few years. list goes on. They are theevangélicos . I would like to discuss three of I spent eight months attending the stories that define the American worship services at three different spiritual and political landscape in Latino evangelical churches. I was this moment. Each is a heartbeat in struck by how the evangélico boom the American spiritual life. Each re- is tied to the immigrant experi- flects a pulse of this nation, and each ence. Church means survival. Each has rooted my religion and politics community took “feed the hungry coverage at Time. and clothe the naked” seriously. A I do not claim to be a theologian. single mother wept as she told me I am a reporter. My job is to track how she first met members of the the moves of the flocks. I write what church. The members of the church I see, what I hear, what I learn. At were cleaning her office late one its best, reporting is an effort to bear night when they learned she did not witness to the heartbeat of the world have an apartment. They decided to and to name it, describe it and give it back to the world in a move to a two-bedroom unit so she and her baby could live way that opens new conversations to understand truth. with them. Another woman shared that God stopped her 12 years of migraines after the church community fasted for The Latino Reformation three days. Yet another testified that her internal bleeding One day four years ago, during another presidential election, stopped when the pastor anointed her with oil. The pastor I was driving in a Maryland suburb of Washington when I of one of the churches said to me, “I don’t want to say from noticed a small sign shoved between the Romney/Ryan and the altar on Sunday, ‘If someone has a need, let me know,’ Obama/Biden campaign signs that lined every inch of the because I will have a line of people out the door Monday street. Unlike the others, this sign was in Spanish: Iglesia morning, needing money for rent, food.... But we never let de Dios del Evangelio Completo. Clearly not a candidate for people stay in need. We are not going to be able to sleep if president. Down the road, I spotted another: Primera Iglesia we know a family needs food.” Bautista Hispana de Maryland. Not long after that, one It was a reminder of how tightly theology and experience Sunday afternoon I noticed a bus: Iglesia Cuadrangular el are bound up together. Here, “Gloria a Dios” is no throw- Calvario. I decided to follow it. Soon we arrived at a church. away line. A woman prayed so hard once she vomited, or Some 500 Spanish-speaking worshipers were inside, singing exorcised a demon. Others passed out. At these churches, alabanzas, or praise songs. Some held tambourines, some “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted” takes on concrete were dancing under a giant flag of a lion with a mane of or- hope and it is transformative. For many of these believers, ange sunbeams, others waving streamers and fans. A wom- to move to Protestantism is often a path to a more prosper- PHOTO: FOCOLARE/FEDERICO ORTA

16 America November 14, 2016 ous “American” life. And it was impossible to miss that these churches were so separated from their white counterparts. Sunday is still the most segregated day in America. The church in the United States is not dying. It is chang- ing. Now, three years later, evangélico churches are less hid- den. As a reporter, when you are watching society move long enough in one direction, it is time to turn around. The force waiting to fill the pressure vacuum in your wake is revealing. At the time only 15 percent of new Catholic priests ordained in the United States were Latino, and the Catholic Church had 4,800 parishes with Latino programing. The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical denomination in the United States, saw opportunity—leaders have been working to start 7,000 Baptist Hispanic churches by 2020. In hindsight, what came next was obvious. The bold counterstrike came in March 2013, when the College of Cardinals named Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as pope, the first Latin American pontiff, poised to renew not just the Americas but the Catholic Church worldwide. Would he be able to reverse an exodus?

Pope Francis The moment he emerged on the papal balcony, Pope Francis became a defining story of this age: pope for the poor, for the developing world, a priest with an uncommon feel for the common man. Now, three years into a Francis papacy, we are used to his style—we expect him to surprise, to lead from the margins. I remember arriving in Rome last year, the Sunday before the papal trip to Cuba and the United States, and pulling up to St. Peter’s Square and being so disoriented. It was the same as it always was: giant stone fortress, huge dome. St. Peter’s itself looked so distant, so out of reach, so out of place. How was this place home to the pope of the people? Pope Francis reigns here? In just two and half short years, he had made power and might and all the traditional associa- tions of Rome seem so bizarre. And yet, that view from below needed more examination. As I was trying to understand the giant stone fortress, I was also writing a feature about how Pope Francis had revital- ized the Vatican’s role in global diplomacy. He has drawn attention to the Mediterranean migrant crisis from the very start of his papacy, and more recently called on Catholic di- oceses to house refugee families. He speaks out about the persecution of Christians in Syria and Iraq. He praised the nuclear deal between the United States and Iran. His encyc- lical on the environment was timed perfectly to influence the Paris climate agreement. And of course there was Cuba. On the way back from an earlier trip to Paraguay, Pope Francis dismissed his role in the rapprochement, saying, “We did hardly anything, only small things.” That is a bit of a stretch. What he did not say was that he

November 14, 2016 America 17 had dispatched Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino of Havana The Prosperity Preachers to secretly visit the White House and deliver a personal letter Of all the surprising elements of Donald Trump’s rise in from him to President Obama, as he had done days earlier to American politics, the religious story has been one of the most the Cuban president, Raul Castro. President Obama listened baffling. Trump calls himself a Presbyterian, a “Sunday church as Cardinal Ortega read the letter aloud: Pope Francis was person,” and he has waved his childhood Bible at rallies. He offering assistance to help the United States and Cuba over- has bragged that he does not ask for forgiveness, famously come their distrust. The two countries took him up on it. And quoted “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians,” we know how that ended. Later the touted his wealth as a crowning achieve- Vatican even offered to help relocate ment and admitted he is not sure he has prisoners from the military prison at At its best, deserved evangelicals’ support. Guantánamo Bay so that it can be The tight grip of evangelicals in closed. reporting is an effort Republican politics is not new, but Francis’ small things have already during this cycle the pastors who rallied proven to be a big deal for the rest of to bear witness to around the G.O.P. nominee have been the world. I have never seen the U.S. different from the start. There is Paula Congress so happy as when they, the the heartbeat of the White, a popular Pentecostal televan- powerful, listened to Francis. And world and to name it. gelist from Orlando, Fla., who has been at the same time, I never saw people Trump’s longtime spiritual counselor. On happier to see Francis than those the last day of the Republican National whose experience he was lifting up Convention, White prayed for Trump with his presence. In Philadelphia, one of the most joyful for four hours, and then prayed privately with him, that he events occurred when Pope Francis met immigrant families would share God’s words when he accepted the Republican in front of Independence Hall, where America’s “Declaration nomination. She attributes his speech that night to God. “I of Independence” was forged. “Many of you have emigrat- think there was a different tone that night, and I think that is ed to this country at great personal cost, but in the hope of because of his heart being open to God,” she told me. Early on, building a new life,” he told them. “Do not be discouraged by White invited peers like Jan Crouch, the founder of Trinity whatever challenges and hardships you face. I ask you not to Broadcasting Network, and Clarence McClendon, the reality forget that like those who came here before you, you bring star from the show “Preachers of LA,” to pray with Trump many gifts to your new nation. You should never be ashamed at Trump Tower. Joel Osteen, the megachurch and self-help of your traditions.” That is not a message many of them hear pastor, has called Trump “an incredible communicator and from the powerbrokers of this nation. brander” and “a good man.” Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the late, Pope Francis has used his power to call other powerbro- prominent televangelist and founder of Liberty University in kers to a new humility. That is a cost for politicians. At the Virginia, was the first big-name evangelical to endorse Trump end of his climate encyclical “Laudato Si’,” he offered this in January. prayer: The moment I realized just how different these pastors on the Trump trail were came during a rally in Illinois in Enlighten those who possess power and money March. A virtually unknown African-American pastor, Mark that they may avoid the sin of indifference, Burns, from the small town of Easley, S.C., pumped up the that they may love the common good, advance the weak, crowd with chants of Trump’s name. He began to prophesy and care for this world in which we live. in prayer: “Lord, this will be the greatest Tuesday that ever ex- The poor and the earth are crying out. isted, come Super Tuesday Three.... There is no black person, there is no white person, there is no yellow person, there is no Together, this humility and this influence are a paradox, red person, there’s only green people!” he shouted. “Green is and they have defined Pope Francis’ papacy so far. It is a re- money! Green are jobs!!” minder to hear heartbeats behind heartbeats and notice how His was not a usual conversion narrative—it was econom- they sound together. ic. God, Burns says, has economically transformed his life. Now the pendulum is swinging again. There is a differ- Once, before he found Jesus, he says he relied on food stamps, ent pressure vacuum. A year to the day after Pope Francis lived in Section 8 housing, went to jail and faced a charge of spoke to those immigrant families, Americans watched the simple assault as part of his self-described “baby mama dra- first presidential debate of the 2016 election. It is difficult to ma.” Now he runs a for-profit television church ministry. He imagine a more opposite leadership strategy, not to mention told me, “Jesus said, above all things, I pray that you prosper, temperament, to Pope Francis than Donald J. Trump. I pray that you have life more abundantly,” quoting not Jesus

18 America November 14, 2016 but another New Testament passage. “It was never Jesus’ in- From Pope Francis to Donald Trump, in just one year. tention for us to be broke. I think that is what Donald Trump Would any of us have predicted this force during the papal represents.” visit? For me it was a lesson to listen harder, to learn what Many of the pastors around Donald Trump preach a ver- deeper pressures are building and shaping society. And now, sion of what theologians call “the prosperity gospel,” a contro- as always, another turning point must be ahead. versial conviction that God wants his followers to be wealthy and healthy. Prosperity preachers do not just want Americans A Nation in Flux to be saved, they want them to be successful. Trump him- Different as these three stories are, they all tell us something self resembles a prosperity preacher—come, follow me, and important about where we are as a nation and as a nation you will find success. It makes sense—he is a longtime dis- of believers and unbelievers. The ground under our feet is ciple of “the great Norman Vincent Peale,” as he calls him, shifting both religiously and politically. New movements the 20th-century evangelist who preached positive thinking rise and new power brokers emerge. We need reporters to and reached millions through television and radio programs. help us first name and then understand what is happening. When Trump says he is winning states when he is not, or that Reporting is a specific kind of storytelling. Facts are power- black Americans love him when they overwhelming do not, ful. Opinions often serve to protect. Facts reveal. They can he is enacting a theological principle of “name it and claim it” advance a story and open us to the truth. theology, envisioning future success in the present tense. And yet, trust of “the media” is at a historic low in the Until now, this strain of evangelicalism has had little power United States. I am not sure I know what “the media” is— in American politics. It is much younger as a religious move- more often than not I find that people do not know that ment than evangelicalism in the United States—about 100 reporting and opinion journalism are not the same. Only years old. But it is a strategic alliance for Trump—both are four in 10 Americans trust the mass media to report the rejected by traditional power, and they have popular support. news fully, accurately and fairly, according to Gallup. Some In the last year, this new set of believers has risen up, and now polls have it even worse, at 6 percent. Forty years ago, that we are seeing it flex its national political muscles for the first trust was far higher, at more than seven in 10. Anecdotally, time. It is making some evangelicals so frustrated that they I find that the fear of media and reporters is often stron- want to reject the term “evangelical” and call themselves some- gest among religious communities. More often than you thing new. would imagine, I am at best an outsider, at worst an enemy DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS Every day America Media publishes timely news and commentary on events in the church and the world. Explore our multiplatform ministry today.

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November 14, 2016 America 19 who cannot understand them. tell me why they bought pepper spray for their mother, a sub- My job as a reporter is to learn stories that, almost always, stitute school teacher who wears a hijab, after the Paris ter- are not my own. Truth is hard. Sometimes reporting is hear- rorist attacks. “I see my mother. Everyone else sees a terrorist,” ing what people may not hear in themselves. Other times it is Mohamed said. staring into the atrocities a person has committed. Sometimes I have watched as Tom Catena, a Catholic surgeon in it is just fighting to figure out what Sudan, who runs the only hospital happened versus what people want The question of a for one million civilians trapped in to think took place. Power has al- the fighting of the Nuba Mountain ways had a convenient relationship reporter’s faith raises all region, showed me photos of with truth. It is easy to encoun- burned children and legless women ter stories we like or understand. the questions of the limits hit by Sudanese government forces. Stories that challenge our trust or “It is not any different than what is experience are easier to dismiss. of identity politics: Can happening in Syria,” he said of the People often ask me how faith conflict. “It just has been going on informs my work. I ask myself a dif- a white man really cover three decades longer.” ferent question. I am more curious race riots in Ferguson? And I have listened to Ali Karti, about how the stories I encounter, the Sudanese foreign minister, grow the people I meet, help me better angry when I showed him those understand what it is to be human. Reporting tracks that in same photos, heard him deny they were real and dismiss doc- all its messiness. umented Sudanese government rape camps as lies. “Nothing I have sat with Sybrina Fulton, not long after her son of that is happening,” he said. “I deem myself of follower of Trayvon Martin was shot and killed, as she prayed that God Jesus.” would use his death to overcome racism in America. “He's in Once you know the heart’s beat, its aches and loves can take heaven with God—and he has on a hoodie, he has on a heav- deeper shape. And in all of this messiness, the very human enly hoodie,” she said. approaches the very sacred. The heart of the world is holy I have listened to 18-year-old Mohamed and his sister Sara ground. I think of St. Augustine, who said, “The very same person is at once God and man, God our end, man our way.” The question of a reporter’s faith raises all the questions of the limits of identity politics: Can a white man really cover race riots in Ferguson? Is a woman best able to understand child care issues? Does a millennial best know the experience of young people? Can an atheist ever accurately write best about the Catholic Church? Those are all ways of asking a different question: Is it ever possible to know, to really encounter, the reality of the other? Is bearing witness, in all its complexity and risk, possible? Is anyone able to get close to the heart of the world? My job is just to try. After all, who am I to deem something, someone, unworthy of my witness? Stories do not end when I put down my pen. They begin. Then, the decision to bear witness is yours. Benjamin Britten, a British composer, once mentioned the Holy Triangle of music, a holy trinity if you will, of composer, performer and listener. Music, he said, demands the effort and participation of all three. I think there is a similar holy triangle for jour- nalism—reporter, subject and listener. That means that the reporter’s work needs you. And I would not be surprised if that effort involves the old prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” Anything more than that I leave to the theologians. There are heartbeats to follow, humans to meet, a world to approach, stories to be told. A

20 America November 14, 2016 Spiritual Costs of Debt Financial servitude is shaping the faith of young American Catholics. BY SEAN SALAI

hen Alicia Torres graduated with KITCHEN DUTY. Alicia Torres, a bachelor’s degree from Loyola a Franciscan sister, works with University Chicago in 2007, she had a seminarian preparing dinner at a rectory in Chicago $94,000 of debt from student loans. in 2012. WShe also had $1,000 in credit card debt from personal expenses. Alicia found herself living a lifestyle that had be- come common among young Catholic college grad- uates. Working happily at a low-paying job for the Archdiocese of Chicago, she was unable to pay off her student loans, as her salary barely covered basic living expenses like rent and food. Meanwhile, God was calling her to another com- mitment in life, to a vocation she had begun to discern during her junior year of college. Alicia felt a growing desire for something greater than material possessions. But a lack of connection between her spiritual life and fiscal habits held her back. As she struggled with ex- penses that plunged her deeper into debt, she began to ponder where her life was headed. “I knew I had to stop living in limbo and listen to that voice speaking in my heart,” Alicia wrote on her blog. Alicia ultimately discerned a call to join a new Franciscan community dedicated to comforting the afflicted and preaching the Gospel in Humboldt Park, one of Chicago’s most distressed neighborhoods. In July 2008, after making an Ignatian four-day retreat to pray about it, Alicia resolved to pay off her debt and join the Franciscans, come hell or high water. “From that point on, I never looked back, and the Lord continued to work miracle after miracle so that I could enter religious life,” says Sister Alicia. Since the fledgling religious order of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago could not take on Alicia’s debt, she decided, with the help of friends, to develop the Nun Run Blog—a fundraising idea that solicited In autumn 2010, her debt finally paid off, Alicia gave sponsorships for Alicia to run the city’s half marathon in away her wardrobe and other possessions. She professed 2009. As she slowly paid off her credit card bills, she set out first vows on Oct. 13, 2012, and her final vows three years to promote her “nun run,” hoping to attract benefactors to later. Now she spends her days working with children, fam- help pay off her debt. Alicia’s story was quickly picked up ilies and seniors on the West Side of Chicago while taking by media outlets around the world. Donations poured in at classes at Mundelein Seminary to prepare for teaching reli- near-miraculous speed. gion classes one day. “I can never forget what the Lord has done for me, nor

CNS PHOTO/KAREN CALLAWAY, CATHOLIC NEW WORLD CATHOLIC CNS PHOTO/KAREN CALLAWAY, SEAN SALAI, S.J., is a regular contributor to America. the generosity of countless men and women,” Sister Alicia

November 14, 2016 America 21 wrote. “My story is a testimony not only to divine provi- An Illusory Crisis? dence, but to the steadfast love of God Almighty.” Despite these statistics, not everyone believes young people today are suffering unduly from financial debt or that social Vocations Delayed units like families and religious institutes are being unduly As Sister Alicia’s story illustrates, the spiritual cost of debt burdened. manifests itself in at least two ways for young American In June 2014, the Brookings Institution released a study Catholics today: It delays vocations, and it puts strains on the that said college debt levels have been relatively stable since bonds of love within families and religious congregations. But 1989, calling into question the conventional wisdom that her story also shows how God is with us in the midst of strug- U.S. college students are now paying too much to enter a gles and weaknesses. job market that cannot support them. The study reported According to a study published by Georgetown University’s that about one quarter of the increase in student debt since Center for Applied Research in the 1989 was caused by students’ seek- Apostolate in January 2014, Sister ing further education—especially Alicia is not the only one whose path Debt creates new graduate degrees—rather than by to religious life was obstructed by fi- costlier undergraduate student loans. nancial debt. The survey polled 107 relationship structures The average debt of borrowers with men and women who professed per- within families based a graduate degree more than qua- manent religious vows in 2013. One in drupled, from just under $10,000 to 10 religious brothers, seminarians, sis- on guilt and co- more than $40,000. By contrast, the ters and nuns reported that education- debt of borrowers with only a bach- al debt delayed their application for dependence rather elor’s degree increased by a smaller entrance to religious life by an average margin, from $6,000 to $16,000. of two years. Although these numbers than on love. But the Brookings survey goes may not seem high, these religious back only to 1989 and does not men and women also had an average $31,100 in educational provide an explanation for the real shift in college expens- debt when they first applied for entrance to their religious in- es that occurred in the previous two decades. In the 1980s, stitute—much more than their parents’ generation. American four-year colleges hiked their tuition by astro- In 2012, CARA published a study for the National nomical rates, gradually making it impossible for young peo- Religious Vocation Conference that gives an even clearer pic- ple to “pay their way through college” as their parents did. ture of the effects of educational debt on religious vocations. Although tuition hikes have slowed since 1989, they contin- That report surveyed a total of 47,113 men and women reli- ue to outpace inflation, moving students even further from gious with permanent vows, or approximately two thirds of the possibility of a debt-free education. all men and women religious in the United States. Unlike the Matthew Plomin, 36, a married Catholic father of five, is 2014 report, this earlier survey also covered young Catholics a debt analyst for Deutsche Bank in New York City. He says who had inquired about a religious vocation, not just men and studies like the new Brookings survey, which he considers women who had taken vows. The study’s findings suggest that misleading, have led young Americans to underestimate the financial debt not only delayed some young Catholics from burdens of debt: “Debt has caused a statistically significant entering religious life but prevented many of them from ap- number of young people to delay household formation.” He plying at all, because either they or the religious institutes de- adds: “The rise in educational debt is not solely attributable cided against it. Overall, religious institutes with at least one to the cost of tuition, but the wide and guaranteed avail- serious vocation inquirer in the previous 10 years reported to ability of federally insured debt prevents individuals from CARA that 32 percent of the inquirers had educational debt making difficult choices regarding the lifestyle they choose at the time of their first contact with the vocations office. to live while in college. Easily obtained debt allows for lavish Religious institutes vary in their capacity to handle the lifestyles, increased materialism and less introspection about debt of applicants. CARA found that slightly fewer than half how to wisely use one’s resources.” of all formal applicants with educational debt were eventually “To a large degree, colleges and universities are engaging accepted into candidacy or postulancy, as only four in 10 re- in potentially predatory practices, encouraging maximum ligious institutes took on the responsibility of paying off the indebtedness with their aid policies, especially with ads pro- educational debt of new members. Sister Alicia Torres may moting student loans,” Plomin suggests, adding, “The moral- have been unusual in being delayed by debt from entering re- ity of bankruptcy notwithstanding, there is no legal remedy ligious life; but many young Catholics, unable to pay off their for student loans, making a heavy burden even heavier for debts, never even reach the point of entering. those with severe financial difficulties.”

22 America November 14, 2016 Family Strains where people suffer far more deeply. Second, it presents a Apart from restricting life choices among young Catholics, challenge that will make them stronger people if they work debt also creates new relationship structures within their with God’s help to overcome it. In his apostolic exhorta- families based on guilt and co-dependence rather than on tion “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis condemned the love. self-satisfied complacency that allows us to ignore the plight Mark Shea, a Catholic author and blogger, says his own of the poor, emphasizing that suffering often engenders family has suffered from the strain of older generations con- compassion where prosperity creates only a “globalization tinuing to support younger generations well into adulthood. of indifference.” Francis added: “The culture of prosperity “I’ve watched my kids struggle with debt,” Shea says. “It’s deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something spiritually crushing and tremendously anxiety-producing, new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted putting strains on marriages and families.” Shea also notes for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to that the increased debt load of young Catholics contributes move us.” to ever-increasing work hours that keep spouses apart, keep For American Catholics accustomed to lives of relative parents away from their children and tear at the bonds of comfort, struggling with debt can awaken them to the suf- love so essential to Christian family and community. fering of those unable to meet even basic needs—and to “Middle-class wages have stagnated, and a lot of mon- their own need for God’s help. Like many young Catholic ey goes to child care when both parents are working all the graduates affected by this pursuit of prosperity, Sister Alicia time,” Shea adds. “Civilization is only possible when you Torres felt the deadening spiritual costs of her school and have enough leisure time to ‘screw around,’ which debt eats credit card debts. Yet through her faith, she found a way to into by making people slaves to the economic machine.” work as if everything depended on her, while praying as if Shea and his wife have four children between the ages everything depended on God. of 17 and 27, but they had no comparable experience of fi- “The most important thing for me is that the debt actu- nancial debt in their own youth. That is because college tui- ally became a way that I learned to trust in God, his love for tion costs were still relatively low in the late 1970s and early me and his plan for my life,” says Sister Alicia. “The Lord 1980s. When Shea started college in 1976 and graduated used my debt to prove his love for me.” For in Christ’s love, in 1983, after taking a couple of years off, his parents paid all debts are paid. A half the cost while he paid the other $4,500 by getting a job. With a total bill of about $9,000, he was able to graduate from college with no debt—unlike his children, who have had to take out loans. “Debt eats into everything, and the system seems to be de- signed to create that,” says Shea. Far from finding a job that will pay for tuition, today’s college student is lucky to find a minimum-wage gig at the school library that will pay for a semester of transportation and food. If a young Catholic fails to find a job after college, he or she may ultimately end up back on mom’s couch, trapped in a spiritual and psycho- logical funk as student loan bills start coming due. Then again, there is always the prospect of another loan to attend graduate school, which at least delays the under- graduate loan payments and holds out the hope of better employment. As the Catholic writer Hilaire Belloc predicted a century ago in The Servile State (1912), it is becoming increasingly apparent that our society “cannot endure” under the strains of financial insecurity and anxiety that capitalism deepens as it concentrates ownership in the hands of a few. But while the ailing system continues to tighten its grip on the working poor and middle class, there are perhaps signs of hope in the high debt levels that afflict the spiritual lives of young American Catholics today. First, it puts them in solidarity with the rest of the world,

November 14, 2016 America 23 Payday Predators Protecting our most vulnerable from debt is an act of mercy. BY EDWARD J. WEISENBURGER

In imitation of our Master, we Christians are asked to quickly becomes virtually impossible to escape. In 1995, confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch there were 37 payday loan entities in Kansas; by 2014, this it, to make it our own, and to take practical steps to alle- number had grown to 347. Sadly, Kansas has one of the viate it.” —Pope Francis highest payday loan use rates in the country: 8 percent of the adult population. This means that 175,000 of our fami- ope Francis designated 2016 as the Jubilee Year ly, friends and neighbors are ensnared by payday debt. of Mercy, urging the church to move the alle- Unlike more mainstream and regulated financial prod- viation of poverty to the heart of our efforts ucts (like loans from banks or savings and with renewed zeal. In response, the bishops loan institutions), most payday loans pro- of Kansas, along with the staff of the Kansas vide scant consumer protection. The average PCatholic Conference, undertook a careful survey of the more loan is $300 and must be repaid within two pressing social issues of our state. We concluded that among weeks, when the borrower receives his or her the structural evils affecting the poor, predatory lending— next paycheck. The fees charged for the loan also known as payday lending—stands out as especially are equivalent to an annual percentage rate cruel. Like a cancerous tumor, it has grown swiftly, and it of over 300 percent. More than 80 percent of is dehumanizing to its victims—all while creating barely a loans cannot be repaid within this time peri- ripple of public interest or concern. od. The result is typically a loan that ends up To understand how we got to this point, first recall that with doubled or tripled fees. The initial sum from the beginnings of civilization, there have been teach- constitutes more than a third of the average ings and laws against usury. Abusing the poor by lending borrower’s disposable income, leaving even money to those in crisis at astonishingly high interest rates less money to pay for basic human needs is a practice that has been restricted or condemned by every such as food, housing, transportation to the civilization. Such behavior was rightly recognized as destruc- place of employment and utilities. tive and corrosive for communities and society. Moreover, Who is most at risk? No one is more vul- from biblical times, one of the hallmarks of a jubilee year has nerable to the catastrophic consequences of been the cancellation of debts that were beyond the ability “ballooning” fees than those who live on fixed incomes or of the poor to pay. Liberation from the psychological and who have been designated by social services agencies as high- material “prison” of indebtedness is the perfect metaphor for ly at risk and unable to secure additional income because God’s mercy. of advanced age, disability or some other critical circum- Even given our nation’s secular history, legislation pre- stance. In 2014 there were 1,006,388 payday loans made venting usury was a natural part of our legal system until to Kansans, totaling almost $392 million. Based on na- very recently. It was only in the 1990s that subtle changes tional averages, tens of thousands of these loans were made in the law quietly and quickly eroded legal protection from to Kansans who earn less than $20,000 per year. Roughly usury. The result is a billion-dollar industry now advertised 30,000 of the poorest borrowers depend upon Temporary as friendly, safe and legitimate; indeed, it is actually present- Assistance for Needy Families, disability benefits or Social ed as an altruistic financial service. The fact is that nothing Security as a major or even the primary source of income. could be further from the truth. So what is the truth? What this means is that a substantial number of our Kansas Here are the facts. Payday lenders take advantage of a tax dollars are being funneled through the poor and into the state of desperation experienced by those in dire financial pockets of the payday loan industry! circumstances. It is this sense of crisis that causes those Moreover, 53 Advance America outlets in the state of (often with little financial understanding and few other Kansas alone are owned by Salinas Pliego, a Mexican bil- options) to initiate an unseen cycle of debt from which it lionaire. Not only are Kansas tax dollars being funneled through the poor and into the pockets of the payday loan MOST REV. EDWARD J. WEISENBURGER is the bishop of Salina, Kan. industry, but a significant amount is going to a billionaire

24 America November 14, 2016 in a foreign country. More disturbing is that our poorest The Catholic dioceses in Kansas are taking steps to neighbors and co-workers, who legitimately depend upon alleviate some of the damage caused by this structural every penny of public assistance to care for their children evil. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Salina and the or sick family members, would have been required to pay Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas have initiated pro- an estimated $10 million in interest and fees on those loans grams that provide financial mentoring for those who have made in 2014. Each borrower paid an average of $325. As become ensnared in predatory lending. These programs the yearly limit for TANF is $1,300, nearly one-fourth of help victims to transfer predatory loans to legitimate banks this crucial, fixed income would be required just to service and savings and loan institutions; the new loans, with dras- a loan. tically lower interest rates, are backed by Catholic Charities. While our research focused on the state of Kansas, it is Those previously trapped in predatory loans now have a worth noting that 14 states and the District of Columbia realistic possibility of becoming debt-free. But we have hit have outlawed predatory (payday) lending. The New two roadblocks. The first is that we obviously do not have Economy Project of New York estimates that these laws the assets to back an unlimited number of these crippling have saved $3.5 billion annually that payday lenders would loans. While making a difference, we can never alleviate so otherwise siphon in fees. It is also worth noting that the fed- massive a structural evil on our own. The second roadblock, which was not anticipated, is the challenge of actually pay- ing off the balance of a payday loan. The director of Catholic Charities in Kansas City in Kansas has spent hours strug- gling to pay off loans in person, only to encounter resistance from the payday lenders. When staff members attempted to handle these matters over the phone, they were repeatedly misdirected, placed on hold or given what was determined later to be inaccurate loan balance amounts. The industry seems to make every effort to prevent the loans from being paid in full. It’s how they make their money. If you’re asking yourself, “What can I do?” my response is to look again to the words of Pope Francis, who asks us to confront and to touch poverty. To confront this situation begins with resisting the temptation to turn our eyes away from the suffering of our neighbors, or shrugging it off as the result of financial irresponsibility that has “nothing to do with me.” The predatory lending industry very much wants us to look the other way—not to notice Lazarus at the gate. eral government has imposed an annual interest rate cap of But confronting poverty like this begins with shining a light 36 percent for military personnel and their families, after upon it. Then there are many ways to touch this particular concluding that predatory lending was harming them to the poverty and to take practical steps to alleviate it. One is for point of undermining military readiness. faithful Americans to call upon national and state legislators The same protection should be given to all U.S. citi- to initiate true reforms providing the same consumer pro- zens, but the predatory loan industry’s lobby is powerful, tections afforded to those who use banks and savings and and legislation is often gutted of any real power to protect loan institutions. We must ask for a special focus on those the vulnerable. In Kansas, for example, it is illegal for a bor- who are already considered particularly vulnerable to the rower to take out multiple, simultaneous payday loans, but false security advertised by predatory lenders on virtually with no structure in place to track payday loans, this law every street, but primarily advertised in our poorest neigh- is entirely ignored. This already catastrophic situation is borhoods. compounded by the ease with which predatory lenders now In doing so you will be taking part in our Year of Mercy offer their services over the internet. And there is little relief effort to fulfill Pope Francis’ request that we take practical from the federal regulatory agencies tasked with supervising steps to alleviate the unjust poverty that literally surrounds the industry. This May, the Consumer Financial Protection us. Surely this corporal and spiritual work of mercy is a Bureau published preliminary new regulations of the indus- perfect participation in this Holy Year of Mercy. What a try, but they have numerous deficiencies, particularly con- fitting conclusion it would be if we could initiate the lib- cerning the verification of a customer’s ability to repay loans eration of our poorest neighbors from this cruel shackle of

ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ GEBER86 while affording household necessities. crushing debt. A

November 14, 2016 America 25 VATICAN DISPATCH

Francis for the Poor

n his first meeting with the press small economy car, not in one of the idence at Castel Gandolfo, where most on March 16, 2013, Pope Francis bullet-proof Mercedes-Benz limou- of his predecessors since Clement VIII Itold journalists, “How I would like sines that were ready for his use. Ever (1592-1605), who bought the proper- a church which is poor and for the since, he has used a small economy car, ty, had taken refuge from the Roman poor!” even on foreign trips, as we saw in the heat in the summer months. “The poor Since becoming pope, he has never United States. do not live in palaces,” he told a person ceased to look for ways to make that Across the globe, the rich and peo- close to him during his first summer wish come true, starting with what ple in positions of power emphasize in Rome. Last October, the Vatican he calls “the conversion of the papa- their status by using luxury brand announced his decision to open the cy.” He began on the night of his elec- cars. Francis has always re- summer residence to tion in the Sistine Chapel’s “Room fused such status symbols. the public, who can now of Tears” by refusing to accept the On becoming archbishop The pope visit it all year round. ermine-trimmed red velvet mozzetta, of Buenos Aires in 1998, has always Francis clearly would gold pectoral cross and red shoes pre- he sold the big car that his like cardinals, bishops pared for the new pope, opting instead predecessor used and found refused and priests to use small to keep his simple silver cross and a new job for the chauffeur. luxury cars cars and live in modest well-worn black shoes. As pope, he has frequently residences. He is seek- This came as a surprise to many, railed against clergy or reli- and other ing to inspire them by starting with the cardinals who had gious who drive in the latest example, and an increas- just elected him. They did not know model cars, denouncing it such status ing, though still small that as a bishop in Argentina he as “a scandal” and an offense symbols. number are following dressed as a simple priest, wearing to the poor. suit. Many, however, are a black suit but never the chain and Soon after his election, resistant to this and sev- cross under the jacket (with the for- he announced his decision not to live eral say: “He is a Jesuit. He has taken a mer visible and the latter hidden), as in the Apostolic Palace as his predeces- vow of poverty, but I have not.” But for many prelates do to show their rank. sors had done since the 17th century Francis, it is a question of coherence to When John Paul II named him cardi- but to remain instead at Casa Santa the Gospel message and the option for nal, he did not buy new robes; instead, Marta, where he lives in three rooms: a the poor. he asked to have his predecessor’s gar- living room, a small study and a small “The riches of the church are meant ments reworked to fit him. bedroom. for the service of the poor,” he has He surprised the electors, too, His decision shocked many in the stated several times. He wants those when immediately after greeting the Vatican but not those who knew he administering the Vatican and local people in St. Peter’s Square for the first had done likewise in Buenos Aires, church finances to bear this in mind time as pope, he rejected the limousine where there was a large official resi- and not to misuse or waste them. In that was waiting to take him back to dence for the archbishop at Olivos, Rome, he has given a broad man- his residence and opted instead to ride near that of the country’s president. As date to the papal almoner, the Polish with the cardinals in a bus. The fol- archbishop, however, Jorge Bergoglio archbishop Konrad Krajewski, to use lowing morning, he asked to be driven never lived there, not even for one day. Vatican resources for the poor. He has to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in a Instead, he lived in the diocesan curia asked religious orders to review their near the cathedral, in a small study and use of the properties they own. In all GERARD O’CONNELL is America’s Vatican bedroom. this, he is challenging church leaders in correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of Likewise, Francis has not spent a a big way. the United States. single night in the papal summer res- GERARD O’CONNELL

26 America November 14, 2016 FAITH IN FOCUS Correction Course The benefits of prison education BY DONALD LEE n 1992 I was a 17-year-old col- victim’s and society’s trust, rights and A three-state study of recidi- lege student studying at Phoenix safety; and for many people, especial- vism conducted by the Correctional ICollege. Two years later I began a ly victims and their families, exacting Education Association found that different sort of education, this time retribution feels right. But when we two years’ worth of correctional edu- at “convict college.” I was cation reduced recidivism serving a sentence for pos- rates by an average of 12 session of drug parapher- percent. A meta-analysis nalia, which turned out to of studies on the effect of be only an introduction post-secondary correc- to many years—and ad- tional education published vanced degrees—of crim- by Cathryn Chappell in inal behavior. the Journal of Correction That same year, in an Education in 2004 found attempt to boost voter that recidivism rates were approval and cut govern- on average 46 percent ment spending, President lower for inmates who Clinton signed the took college classes than Violent Crime Control for offenders who did not. and Law Enforcement But is this simply “re- Act of 1994, which bans warding” prisoners for prisoners from receiving their past misdeeds, or are federal educational fund- there benefits for poten- ing assistance, like Pell tial victims and taxpayers grants. Since that time, as well? A study conduct- the number of inmates ed by the University of able to earn a college de- California, Los Angeles, gree has dropped dramat- School of Public Policy ically. Prisons across the and Social Research in country have cut back on “costly” edu- consider the fact that the majority of 2004 found that when it comes to dis- cation in favor of supposedly “cost-ef- prisoners will someday be released couraging repeat offenders, correctional fective” programming—mostly idle back into society, it is clear that mere education is nearly twice as cost-effec- time, spent in cells—and are quickly vengeance can be self-defeating. If so- tive as imposing longer sentences. Each becoming nothing more than human ciety wants to reduce the number of year approximately 700,000 prisoners warehouses. The prevailing public people victimized by crime, reason are released, of whom roughly two- sentiment seems to be: “Who cares? dictates that an inmate’s time in prison thirds will reoffend within three years. Prisoners don’t deserve such a privi- should be used to correct the antisocial That is 476,000 people the state will lege.” behaviors that put him or her there in have to re-incarcerate, at an average cost Criminal behavior is a breach of the the first place. Only by lowering recid- of about $31,300 per inmate per year. ivism rates will our criminal-justice And because the average offender com- system protect citizens and lessen the mits 8.89 crimes per year, that is poten- DONALD LEE, an inmate with the Arizona Department of Corrections, is pursuing a bache- fiscal burden incarceration imposes tially millions of additional victims.

ART: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ ERHUI1979 ART: lor’s degree in sociology. upon taxpayers. Reducing the recidivism rate by

November 14, 2016 America 27 even 12 percent through education being isolated from positive societal on system. My college tuition has come could save taxpayers billions annually influences, severed from my family and from a fund set up by the Catholic and prevent the victimization of hun- surrounded by a destructive criminal Peoples Foundation, a nonprofit or- dreds of thousands of people. This culture. ganization based in Gallup, N.M. does not even begin to factor in the Jesus stated, “A good tree does not Without their support I do not know multitude of societal benefits, like the bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree where I would be now. In fact, my pos- reduction of insurance premiums due bear good fruit. For every tree is known itive efforts, and those of my Catholic to decreased crime rates, the collection by its fruit” (Lk 6:43). The recidivism mentors, are regularly thwarted by the of taxes paid by working ex-offenders rate in the United States has remained prison’s staff, its policies and its general or the benefits to children and spouses virtually unchanged over the past 30 attitude of indifference. The Arizona of rehabilitated ex-offenders, who are years. Clearly, the current correctional Department of Corrections has pol- less likely to be on welfare or to fall system is producing rotten fruit. icies in place that actually prohibit a into generational criminality. Nurturing a rotten tree will not pro- large portion of its prisoners, including duce good fruit. Demanding education those in special housing units, from Rotten Fruit and rehabilitative programs within the seeking a college education. These Today many prisoners are corralled U.S. prison system is the only way to practices have devastating consequenc- into cellblocks, where there are few uproot the rotten tree that currently es. Most inmates give up all hope of opportunities for personal growth. stands. A little more than five years achieving a better life outside of prison Even more devastating is the fact that ago, Jesus planted a “good tree” with- because it appears unattainable. many young prisoners are immersed in me. I am now drug-free, gang-free One of the best ways to give prison- in a group of hardened “veteran” crim- and Catholic. I am a college student ers hope is to immerse them in work, inals, who only further corrupt and and am nearly halfway to earning my education, charity and other programs warp these young minds. When I first bachelor’s degree in sociology, with an that prepare them to enter the work- went to prison in 1994, I was intro- emphasis on criminology. In addition, force and to support their families and duced to the prison’s pervasive drug I have founded a peer-based rehabili- communities. Removing all forms of and gang culture, and my criminal ten- tation program called Inmate-Driven rehabilitative tools, while simultane- dencies quickly multiplied. By 1996 I Rehabilitation Service, which seeks to ously isolating prisoners from posi- had participated in my first stabbing, provide prisoners with the rehabilita- tive forms of socialization, is not only and by 2005 I committed attempted tive resources and educational oppor- ineffective; it is a costly mistake, one murder. How had my life become so tunities that the prisons fail to provide. that guarantees that U.S. prisons will meaningless and destructive in such a None of this personal growth, how- remain full and that victims of crime short time? Much of it had to do with ever, can be attributed to the state pris- (not to mention taxpayers) will contin- ue to pay the human and financial toll. Approximately seven million pris- oners are released back into society each decade, to either reintegrate and become productive members of their community or to offend again. Recidivism rates remain unchanged decade after decade in spite of “tough on crime” laws. The root cause is that prisoners leave prison the same as when they entered or worse off. It is time for taxpayers to insist that their money be put toward cost-effec- tive, quality services through perfor- mance-based funding. Prisons that act as human warehouses and criminal “finishing” schools rather than as cor- rectional facilities are rotten trees. It is time to plant some new seeds in the U.S. criminal justice system. A

28 America November 14, 2016 PHILOSOPHER’S NOTEBOOK Undercover Grief rarely watch reality television pro- after being devastated by the murder emerge in all its tragic memory, fear grams. (Right, I only watch PBS.) of his father right outside their home. and hope. IBut one reality series has recent- A subcontractor admits that worry Despite our claims to be a thera- ly drawn my attention: “Undercover over the illness and death of his child peutic society, the heartfelt expression Boss.” distracts him from his work. of grief is rarely welcome. Our plunge Each week a business owner trav- Other griefs quickly surface: a pain- into a lethal culture of opioid addic- els incognito to a subdivision of the ful divorce, a battle against addiction, a tion is in part an effort to suppress business and takes an entry-level po- devastating bankruptcy. The disguised rather than face and express sorrow sition for several days. The employ- employers are often led empathetically over the death of a beloved relative or ees know they are being taped by a into their own confessions of grief. The friend. In a voyeuristic culture, grief is television crew; they are usually told owner of a limousine service weeps as quickly transmuted into anger and ac- that the tape will be used as a training he recalls the pain of his cusation. film. Constantly asking questions of failed marriage and the As Catholics in a mo- the employees, especially the training self-destruction wrought The program ment of ecclesial decline, supervisor, the owner can gauge the by his own years of drug is an how do we mourn the strengths and weaknesses of the firm addiction. A restaurant demise of a parish or on the ground. At the program’s end owner chokes up as she unexpected parochial school? How the owner reveals his or her true iden- explains how a bankruptcy forum for do we mourn the death tity and doles out rewards (raises, paid years ago had humiliated of an entire religious vacations, scholarships) or punish- her. the human subculture? And how do ments (remedial courses, occasionally At a distance “Under- we place such grief in a dismissal) to the featured workers. cover Boss” would seem soul to sober act of hope? The moral character of the workers to be yet another of the emerge. In the Catholic litur- quickly comes into view. The viewer “gotcha” surveillance se- gical year, November easily spots the industrious and the ries in which employers is traditionally the mo- slothful, the polite and the rude, the and detectives root out dishonest or ment to express our grief as a commu- friendly and the hostile. That waitress incompetent employees. But there is nity gathered in worship. The liturgy has an attitude problem. That effi- surprisingly little of that in the pro- of All Souls Day roots us in the com- cient electrician should be running the gram. There is also little expression passion of Jesus toward the bereaved, Pentagon. But what is especially strik- of the emotion prized in our omni- the Book of Wisdom’s promise of im- ing in these interviews between the present pop psychology talk shows: mortality and the glorious hope of the masked employer and the employee resentment. Training instructions resurrection. Baskets of petitions near is how often the grief of the employee on how to drive a limousine, carve the altar name the dead we mourn and takes center stage. a chicken or dismantle an electrical intercede for in the prayer of the faith- One woman in a real estate net- socket abruptly pivot into revelations ful. The private visit to the cemetery, work reveals the challenges she faces about a recently deceased spouse or the flowers on the tomb and the rosary taking care of her mentally ill sister a friend’s addiction or the bankrupt- at the graveside tie memory and grief and processing her grief at the death cy when the family lost the house. to our great hope for the kingdom of her aged mother. A short-order Questions of work suddenly shift where tears are no longer shed. As the cook breaks into tears as he explains into the suffering, often courageously skies darken, it is also the season to how important it was to obtain his job endured, that brought this person to share with other Christians our loss, this job and that makes this person made more than bearable by the for- want to stay at or leave this particu- titude and perseverance granted by the JOHN J. CONLEY, S.J., holds the Knott Chair in Philosophy and Theology at Loyola lar business. The program is an unex- Holy Spirit. “Sorrow built a bridge.” University Maryland in Baltimore, Md. pected forum for the human soul to JOHN J. CONLEY

November 14, 2016 America 29 Books & Culture

THEATER | DAVID STEWART whom they promise wealth and pow- er through alchemy, astrology and appeals to vanity. Moral collapse into BUBBLING UNDER anarchy is the result. Successive char- Ben Jonson’s ‘Alchemist’ is basic compared with the Bard. acters are all too ready to believe that their base metal can be turned into en Jonson will forever live in is absent for most of the action, might gold and all too willing to part with Shakespeare’s shadow. The re- have been intended to be a semi-flat- their cash. It all begins to fall apart, of Bcent production of Jonson’s tering figure of the just and honorable course, as does the flimsy relationship best-known work, The Alchemist, by monarch, whose underlings/subjects among the three swindlers. In good the Royal Shakespeare Company, inad- stood accused of all manner of delin- time, the noble Lovewit returns and vertently demonstrates why. First per- quency. These were precarious times to good order is restored. Yet the unfaith- formed in 1610 and full of then-topi- be a playwright. ful butler appears to get away with his cal political references, it is hard work Another reality at which those deception. Or does he? for an audience today. Although few of Southwark audiences would have Early-17th-century London could Jonson’s surviving works compare well roared was the plague, a common dis- be a dramatic place to produce drama, with the Bard’s, this one probably does ease in the early 1600s. Jonson’s plot as it is in the early 21st century, but for so best. That the R.S.C. put on this carries really only one strand: Lovewit different reasons. Fifteen years ago, the show at the Barbican Centre, in the abandons his townhouse during an R.S.C. made the controversial decision City of London, also added a touch of outbreak, leaving his trusted butler, to move out of their unloved London modern-day drama. Jeremy, in charge. But the latter soon base at the Barbican. The venue is Jonson set his play in Jacobean makes mischief. Renaming himself an object of contention; it is a 1980s London—in Southwark and Face and working with two con-artist Brutalist complex situated in the Blackfriars—in real time. It represent- accomplices, Subtle and Dol Common, City of London, the financial district ed the realities his audience was living he makes the empty townhouse a place known as the Square Mile, comprising through, and they would have recog- to prey on gullible London figures to two theaters, a concert hall, numerous nized this at once. One of those performance spaces and apart- realities was the insecure reign of SWINDLERS. Siobhan McSweeney ment housing. In places, it feels James I, who had succeeded to the as Dol Common in “The Alchemist” like a post-apocalyptic nucle- throne on the death of Elizabeth ar shelter. The big theater was I in 1603, and who had survived specifically designed for the a credible assassination attempt R.S.C., yet they left in 2002, in November 1605, known as maintaining a permanent home the Gunpowder Plot. James had only in Stratford-upon-Avon dashed the hopes of his Catholic while mounting one-off, com- subjects, later widely accused (as mercially attractive shows in were, by some, the Jesuits) of plan- the West End. More recently, ning the plot. “The Alchemist” abandoning their permanent, calls to mind the more subtle sub- custom-designed home has plot of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” seemed a comedy of errors, and which explores the moral justifi- now they are back. “They have cation of the assassination of an their exits and their entrances,” unpopular king. Jonson could not suggested Shakespeare, but the manage the master’s subtlety. Still, company that bears his name the bourgeois property-owner has agreed to stay in its con- character in “The Alchemist,” the crete home until 2020.

wealthy Lovewit, a character who The London production of PHOTOS: RSC/HELEN MAYBANKS

30 America November 14, 2016 CON JOB? Tom McCall as Kastril, Ken Nwosu as Face, Mark Lockyer as Subtle in “The Alchemist”

“The Alchemist” begins with promis- by comparison with Shakespeare), ly undefeated by dialogue that cannot ing originality. A playful musical over- felt labored, and there was little of have been easy to learn, let alone speak ture, played by live but unseen instru- the stagecraft for which the R.S.C. aloud in a large auditorium. mentalists, sets the tone by sampling, is usually praised. In the manner of a And that ending. Purists did not like inter alia, the theme songs of “Mission sports team that has been given a firm it, for it tinkered with the text. Jeremy Impossible” and the James Bond mov- tongue-lashing by their coach at half- the butler, played by the wonderfully ies. The candle-lit set is open and stat- time, they upped their game and were nimble Ken Nwosu, stepped to ex- ic (until the striking, brilliant ending), much more lively in the second half. treme front-center, flourishing tickets resembling a brown Dutch interior or It was all much funnier. There was an for the play we had just watched. He still-life. excellent theatrical explosion that, al- recited the prices of the tickets as if The parallels with our own vanities though you could see it coming, still to say, “You’ve been conned.” The iro- and gullibility are not rammed down made the audience jump. ny that the house was less than full our throats; again, the clever ending It was a good directorial decision to was hardly his fault. Behind him, the takes care of that. Yet this 400-year- cut almost 20 percent of Jonson’s text. splendid set disintegrated to leave bare old play does not allow us to forget It is sometimes held that Jonson’s pro- the behind-the-scenes bits and the how difficult it is to dismiss entirely lixity came from his desire to match crew, which we do not traditionally those email scams from exiled princes Shakespeare, but he tried to do it by see. It has all been a sham, this said. and widowed benefactors in far coun- volume rather than quality. He could But even that clever device, trying hard tries who have named us in legacies or not really write in iambic pentameter, to vindicate Jonson, could not hold a deals that promise us millions beyond let alone produce layers of meaning in candle, if you will, to how Shakespeare our imaginations. What if, a little a concise, nicely turned phrase. It has the master achieved this—“If we shad- voice still says to us, this mail is unlike mostly been a strength of the R.S.C. ows have offended....” And so Jonson, the others, and genuine? not to rely on big stars, Hollywood candle-lit, remained in Shakespeare’s When we went to the Barbican to refugees. Ensemble is a forte of this shadow. see this play, the company seemed sub- company. Yet Siobhan McSweeney, as dued prior to the intermission. The di- Dol, and Mark Lockyer, as the epony- DAVID STEWART, S.J., is America’s London alogue, at times turgid (suffering again mous alchemist, caught the eye, most- correspondent.

November 14, 2016 America 31 BOOKS | JAY P. DOLAN nomination. He had been reluctant to enter the race for the Democratic A YEAR OF EXTREMES nomination, but the Tet Offensive in January changed his mind. Striking at will across South Vietnam, the AMERICAN MAELSTROM George Romney, Nelson Rockefeller Viet Cong insurgency had convinced The 1968 Election and the and Ronald Reagan. Joining them Kennedy that for the United States Politics of Division was George Wallace of the American “a military victory is not in sight and By Michael A. Cohen Independent Party. probably will never come.” For him Oxford University Press. 448p $29.95 Cohen’s discussion of how each of the time had come to act. But within these personalities pursued the pres- a few short months an assassin's bullet On Jan. 20, 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson idency is the most engaging part of struck down the reluctant warrior. took the oath of office as presi- the book. He brings each of them to As vice president, Hubert dent of the United States. On that life in a very readable and lively man- Humphrey was saddled with the Inauguration Day he was at the pin- pro-war policy of President Johnson. nacle of his career. The previous fall he Because he was so closely identified had crushed Barry Goldwater in the with Johnson, he refused to distance presidential election by winning more himself from the president’s stance votes than any president in the nation’s on Vietnam until it was too late. As history. As he put it, “For the first time Cohen put it, “failing to stand up to in all my life, I truly felt loved by the Johnson on Vietnam would turn out American people.” Three years later his to be Humphrey’s greatest mistake.” popularity had declined so dramati- Richard Nixon led the Republican cally that, according to Senator Stuart candidates for president. Losing to Symington of Missouri, “Lyndon John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election Johnson could not be elected dog- and then suffering another loss in catcher in Missouri today.” California’s governor election in 1962 What did Johnson in was the appeared to mark the end of his polit- Vietnam War. His stubborn support ical career. But a new Nixon emerged for the war in spite of overwhelming ev- from the debacle of defeat. He “exhib- idence that victory was impossible had ited a self-discipline, energy, and sin- fueled the antiwar movement. Protests gle-minded devotion to winning the against the war became so widespread presidency” that would eventually pro- that on March 31 Johnson appeared pel him to the White House. on television and shocked the nation George Romney had a successful by announcing that he would not run ner. In doing so he provides the reader career as the three-time governor of for re-election in November. an opportunity to relive the events of Michigan. A “charismatic moderate,” American Maelstrom examines 1968, a year that changed the course of he seemed like the perfect presidential the 1968 election by focusing on the American history. candidate for the Republican Party. personalities who sought the nation’s The drama of 1968 began in But according to Cohen, he lacked “the highest office. The author, Michael A. November 1967, when Eugene ruthlessness to be a serious candidate Cohen, also argues persuasively that McCarthy announced that he would for higher office.” Moreover, he was this election ushered in the politics of run for president. In doing so he gave a politically too moderate for a political division that has shaped American cul- prominent voice to those who opposed party that was steadily moving to the ture for the past 40 years and more. the Vietnam War. It was a courageous right. His campaign lasted only 100 In 1968 nine men sought the decision, and, as Cohen writes, “his days. nation’s highest office. Four were decision...with no real hope of victory, Another moderate candidate was Democrats: the incumbent Johnson, ended up being the most transforma- Nelson Rockefeller, the successful gov- who did not last very long; Eugene tive event of the 1968 election.” ernor of New York. He campaigned McCarthy; Robert Kennedy; and It was not until the middle of March tirelessly, spending much of his own Hubert Humphrey. The Republican 1968 that Robert Kennedy announced money to gain delegates. But the party candidates were Richard Nixon, his candidacy for the presidential country’s rightward political turn was

32 America November 14, 2016 against him, and he was powerless to of Americans who felt the country slip- tics on the streets of Chicago.” Mayor change it. Ronald Reagan, the gover- ping away from underneath their feet.” Daley’s Irish temper got the better of nor of California, also entered the race He wanted to restore the American him and he screamed a vulgar, anti-Se- for president. His “antigovernment, dream by making America great again. mitic diatribe at Ribicoff. conservative populism” appealed to As president, Nixon would never be All of this, the rioting and Daley’s large numbers of Republicans, but his able to realize that dream. rants, was broadcast live on television time had not yet arrived. Nixon had a Cohen’s treatment of the as the nation watched in horror. The stranglehold over the nomination and Democratic convention in Chicago is presidential historian, Teddy White, would ultimately prevail. one of the most vivid and memorable wrote in his notebook on that night The wild card in the election was sections of the book. Inside the con- “the Democrats are finished.” Finished another governor, George Wallace of vention hall the old, Cold-War guard they were. Hubert Humphrey, who Alabama. He ran on the American of the party were facing off against the gained the nomination in Chicago, Independent ticket and did surprising- antiwar activists for control of the pro- went on to wage a strong campaign, ly well for a third-party candidate. The ceedings. In Grant Park in downtown but the outcome had already been de- candidate of law and order, he based Chicago large numbers of antiwar ac- termined on the streets of Chicago. his campaign on the racial issue. He tivists were demonstrating. By early Despite Humphrey’s valiant efforts, sought to sow discord and fear among evening on Wednesday, Aug. 28, the Nixon won the election. his listeners—fear of busing, fear of rhetoric increasingly escalated, and the Cohen concludes the book with a crime and fear of violence. Cohen de- Chicago police, encouraged by Mayor persuasive argument that “the ideolog- scribes him as a “political demagogue,” Richard J. Daley, began to attack the ical shift toward antigovernment and a throwback to the days of Joseph R. crowds. In what has been described as a anti-elite populism” that emerged “in McCarthy. police riot, police clubbed anyone they 1968 maintained its stranglehold over The Republican convention was could get their hands on, innocent by- the country’s politics” into the 21st over before it began. The names of standers as well as screaming protest- century. As one pundit put it, “It’s nev- Rockefeller and Reagan were put in ers. Inside the convention hall, Senator er stopped being 1968.” nomination, but Nixon swept to victory Abraham Ribicoff, set to nominate convincingly. In his acceptance speech George McGovern, departed from his JAY P. DOLAN is the author of The Irish he sought to give hope to “the millions speech and decried the “Gestapo tac- Americans: A History.

Iphigenia Leaving Tauris

In the wind I lose the tumble of bone-white rocks I’d searched his face for Mycenae’s wild hills, his prayers down the hillside in summer, a new lad missing for a warrior’s commands. But he was no king his footing or a goat scrabbling for parched grass. to break on my altar at last. Just an old man.

Instead I linger over receding mountains What I remember of my father: curls, oil-dark; that rush high and fast out of the water, the light rough linen; a loose sandal he gave me to mend. sweeping up from dark waves. My brother’s glowing face. His hand was a blade slicing the air in summons.

Over the heavy breath of men grinding oars comes I too have held the knife. Before gods, we tremble the slap of wet on wood, like the head of a Greek like sails, must stand like the masts of ships. My father that once slipped from my hands in the temple’s torchlight. shed no tears. There are enough in this wine-dark sea.

CAROLYN OLIVER

Carolyn Oliver lives in Massachusetts with her family. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Slush Pile Magazine, Midway Journal, matchbook and Free State Review. Links can be found at carolynoliver.net.

November 14, 2016 America 33 DIANE SCHARPER Jesus” crucifix on the wall. A character in “Those Americans Falling from the GOD TALK WITH IRONY Sky” maintains “constant bird chatter to God on the subjects of rescue and THE HIGH PLACES loses that knowing, one prays to some- redemption.” Stories thing one no longer knows, hoping to The Reverend Adams, in “Man and By Fiona McFarlane get it back. Bird,” has visions of heaven so vivid Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 280p $26 There’s God-talk in most of these that he has to rely on his parrot— narratives, but it’s nev- who seems suspicious- Fiona McFarlane’s Anglican upbring- er cloying. McFarlane ly like the Holy Spirit ing adds resonance to her latest book, infuses her writing and whom the narrator The High Places, making what could be with a sense of irony calls “that messenger of a humdrum collection of short stories and an instinct for po- God”—to guide him. with willy-nilly endings into mostly el- etry, as when a charac- As the story ends, the egant little gems. ter describes the Holy white parrot “flew above An Australian writer whose first Ghost as a “large feel- the car, above the re- novel, The Night Guest, received several ing of singing toward volving earth, until fi- prestigious awards, McFarlane writes something that sings nally, man and bird to- stories with religious references rang- back.” gether reached the sea.” ing from terms like “burnt offering” to McFarlane’s eccen- Whether they refer allusions to the Bible, along with spec- tric characters add to the Holy Spirit or not, ulations about religious belief. offbeat perspectives to birds play an important A character who is a nonbeliever, notions of spirituality. role in these stories— for example, describes faith as a deep- Someone might hear a perhaps suggesting the down knowing, something one discov- ticking sound, for instance, and won- influence of Gustave Flaubert, whose ers rather than makes. And when one der whether it came from the “ivory short story “A Simple Heart” includes

34 America November 14, 2016 a parrot. In “Violet, Violet,” there’s a elusive, but most are engaging and God on elevated locations like Mount robotic parrot who has a direct line to suspenseful. “Unnecessary Gifts,” the Ararat, the Mount of Olives, Mount the supernatural. In “Good News for oldest story and one of the more tra- Horeb and Mount Sinai. There, an- Modern Man,” a marine biologist who ditional, is about a father whose sons cient people asked God for favors— talks to the ghost of Charles Darwin temporarily go missing. When they’re which God granted. says he no longer believes in God and found, he reflects on the fragility of Jack needs a divine favor. His sheep refers to his situation this way: “[I felt] life, especially as it concerns his elderly ranch is suffering from a five-year God’s absence upon my shoulders, like parents. The newest story, “Buttony,” drought. But it is situated on ground a heavy flightless bird.” about deception and how it brings out below sea level with nary a mountain Most of the stories are set in the worst in people, especially children, or even a hill in sight. How can Jack Australia, generally in the present. The is a delightful re-imagining of Shirley find God and make him listen to his characters live in a world enhanced by Jackson’s “The Lottery.” plea for rain? That question drives the magical realism. The typical plot leads McFarlane told The New Yorker story. The answer is, he can’t. to a moment when someone changes, that she is “drawn to moments when Jack’s unnamed son, though, may sometimes very subtly. In some cir- people do things that are mysterious be able to persuade God to send rain. cumstances, fate rescues them from even to themselves.” The best-realized Unfortunately, until the story’s myste- their troubles. In other cases, the char- stories here are charged with these rious ending in an Abraham-and-Isaac acters muddle through to an end that moments; and the title story, the last moment, nobody—least of all Jack— seems inconclusive. But it isn’t. in this collection, is a near perfect ex- listens to the boy or understands what In “Art Appreciation,” Henry ample. he means. Taylor’s mother wins the lottery, and The main character, Jack, hears a because he wants his mother’s approv- Sunday radio broadcast about find- DIANE SCHARPER is the author of several books, including Radiant, Prayer Poems. al and a large monetary gift, he decides ing God. “’Let’s think about it,’” says She teaches English at Towson University in to marry a suitable woman who takes the announcer. In the Bible, man met Maryland. Twitter: @bmorebooks. art courses in order to better herself. But then he meets again the stunningly beautiful prostitute with whom he was MICHAEL C. Mc CARTHY previously involved. Sometimes, the characters are al- SETTING THE WORLD’S AGENDA lowed a slight glimpse into the mean- ing of their lives. As the book’s dust FREE SPEECH members of the community to “speak, jacket suggests, Flannery O’Connor Ten Principles for a Connected write, listen, challenge and learn, with- does something comparable in several World out fear of censorship.” Therefore, he ex- of her stories that also offer split-sec- By Timothy Garton Ash plains to the entering class, the univer- ond epiphanies. Yale University Press. 491p $30 sity does not support “trigger warnings” In “Cara Mia,” a 14-year-old girl or the canceling of controversial speak- lives near a church whose cross lights Late in the summer the letter from the ers or anything that will inhibit the free up in blue neon at night. She has a University of Chicago’s exchange of ideas. crush on her mother’s significant other, dean, John Ellison, to Critics object that and when he drunkenly mistakes her incoming members of Ellison’s letter begs a for the older woman, she, inspired by the class of 2020 set number of important the light, does the right thing. off the latest set of skir- questions. Do trigger In “Mycenae,” a woman touring mishes in higher educa- warnings really compro- Greece is also inspired by light. After tion. The dean of stu- mise the value of free ex- she is made to collude with her friend, dents notes that one of change? Do they really who commits adultery, she stands un- the defining character- just coddle our youth? der the intense sun and has a sense of istics of the University Or rather, do they help the gods who had previously lived in of Chicago is a com- people prepare to hear and then abandoned this place. mitment to freedom of new and potentially dif- These 13 stories were written over inquiry and expression. ficult ideas rather than a 10-year span. A few stories fall flat He cites a recent faculty simply recoil in shock? with plot subtleties that seem too report that encourages Nonetheless, support

November 14, 2016 America 35 from the University of Chicago’s pres- champions the rights protected by the Ash calls this new condition ident, Robert J. Zimmer, was swift. First Amendment. “Cosmopolis,” where an unprecedented “Free speech,” he wrote in The Wall While Timothy Garton Ash number of people can fly from place to Street Journal, “is at risk in the very would not be unsympathetic to these place and even more can access instant institution where it should be assured: views, his new book, Free Speech: communication from distant lands. In the university.” Ten Principles for a Connected World, 1919 Oliver Wendell Holmes famous- This spring, at the commencement brings to the discussion a refreshing ly stated that the most stringent pro- of Fordham University’s Law School, depth. Garton spent his early career tection of free speech would not pro- Loretta Preska, chief judge of the studying movements within coun- tect someone who falsely shouts fire in U.S. District Court for the Southern tries in Central and Eastern Europe, a crowded theater and creates a pan- District of New York, recited a litany where Communist regimes clearly did ic. Nearly 100 years later, how would of examples that, in her view, suggest suppress free speech in a systematic Holmes regard a raunchy, 13-minute free speech has been suppressed on fashion. The inhibition of free speech film produced outside of Los Angeles college campuses. She warned new is still a political and social reality, to and posted on YouTube as “The Real lawyers to be “wary of groupthink” varying degrees, throughout the world. Life of Muhammad”? What Ash calls and “the politically correct waves of Yet the pervasiveness of the internet “malignant rubbish” is believed to have the day.” Censorship is not American, has changed the game and made issues inflamed two million viewers, some of she said, and the history of jurispru- of free speech far more complex than whom perhaps, Ash suggests, attacked dence in the United States consistently they have ever been. the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and killed the ambassador. Cosmopolis is its own crowded theater, and in this theater what we mean by “free speech” is not always clear. The rise of the internet, however, does not just mean instant global com- munication among a vast number of groups and individuals. It also means God and the Candidates THE FAITH LIVES OF HILLARY CLINTON AND DONALD J. TRUMP MICHAEL O’LOUGHLIN new, and massively powerful, compa- nies that have regulatory capacities akin to those of governments. Google, America is a Jesuit media ministry, a smart Catholic take on faith Facebook, Apple, Amazon—Ash calls and culture. We are the leading producer of multi-platform content these “big cats” who shape the current for thinking Catholics and those who want to know what Catholics meaning of free speech together with are thinking about key church and social issues. We are best known the “big dogs” of sovereignties, like the for our award-winning fl agship magazine, America, founded in 1909. United States and China. And because the United States is the biggest dog, it DIGITAL • PRINT • RADIO • FILMS • EVENTS AMERICAMEDIA.ORG can frequently set the agenda for the JOIN THE CONVERSATION whole world, often in contention with other big dogs like China or the big cats like Google, and often in ways that CLASSIFIED Translator are responsive to aggregative power of LUIS BAUDRY-SIMÓN, TRANSLATOR (from end-users, consumers and citizens—in English into Spanish): newsletters, articles, es- Retreats says, websites, pastoral letters, ministry resources, other words, us mice with access to the LINWOOD SPIRITUAL CENTER, Rhinebeck, motivational conferences, spirituality material, click of a mouse. N.Y., presents: “Practicum in Giving the Directed etc. Contact: [email protected] (815) Retreat,” Jan. 22-27, 2017 (1 week intensive), In the highly interdependent world 694-0713. application due Nov. 30, 2016; “Supervision for of the Cosmopolis, social norms are Spiritual Direction Training,” June 2-9, 2017 usually more effective than laws. As (one week intensive), application due May 1, 2017; “Spiritual Directors’ Training Program,” WANT YOUR AD HERE? highly as he regards those who invoke September 2017 to May 2018 (four one-week Visit americamagazine.org. First Amendment jurisprudence, Ash intensives), application due June 15, 2017. Visit Email: [email protected]. is not overly optimistic at the capacity www.linwoodspiritualctr.org; call (845) 876- 4178 ext. 305. Call 212-515-0102. of legislation to protect or promote free speech, even in liberal democracies.

36 America November 14, 2016 Except in specific limit cases where, posits the principle: “We respect the be truly free unless we adopt a princi- for instance, laws may protect citizens believer but not necessarily the con- ple like the one he articulates. from extremist violence or whistle tent of the belief.” That is, free speech Ash’s discussion on religion, as on blowers from retaliation or children must be exercised in a way that honors all other topics, is particularly fine from internet predators, we should not our fellow citizens but is not afraid of because it leads us through a range of look to courts or lawmakers. Rather criticizing religious doctrines and prac- complicated problems with great sensi- we should “do correspondingly more tices. While such a principle may work tivity and tact. He models the mixture to develop shared norms and practices for a secularist like Ash, he admits that of openness and robust civility he ar- that enable us to make best use of this to politicians in India, who operate in gues we need in Cosmopolis. essential freedom.” a context of religious density that in- This is an excellent, intelligent and The 10 principles Ash articulates in cludes Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, the comprehensive book that provides an this book are drawn from a project he distinction between believer and belief elegant discussion of free speech and has led at Oxford University and pub- makes less sense. As Ash notes, in their supplies a range of examples that help lished globally in 13 languages on free- environment, the more operative prin- us see the costs, tradeoffs and tensions. speechdebate.com. Covering a topic of ciple might be: “Respect me, respect Free speech is more frequently invoked particular concern to the free speech my belief.” Blasphemy laws were estab- as sacrosanct than it is presented as a debate—including violence, diversity, lished in many countries precisely to matter for discernment. Free Speech is religion and privacy—each chapter keep the peace among people of diverse an important exception. begins with a single-sentence formu- religious convictions. And yet, as Ash la that is subsequently discussed with argues, while speech on religion will MICHAEL C. McCARTHY, S.J., is vice presi- dent for mission integration and planning and great subtlety. always challenge deep sensibilities and an associate professor of theology at Fordham For instance, regarding religion Ash pose risks, the same speech will never University.

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November 14, 2016 America 37 THE WORD

es, in which we claim that the demands Kingdom of the Son of human kingdoms are those of God’s CHRIST THE KING (C), NOV. 20, 2016 kingdom, the wars of this world, the wars of God’s kingdom. Readings: 2 Sm 5:1-3; Ps 122:1-5; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43 We need to remember that the “He has rescued us from the power of darkness” (Col 1:13) kingdom of the beloved Son is where we all belong, together. Our king is here is no Catholic civil war, as a reality rooted in Christ’s death and “the image of the invisible God, the regardless of what certain resurrection, into which we all have firstborn of all creation,” who “him- TCatholic political pundits tell been baptized. Christ’s reign has been self is before all things, and in him all you. In fact, there cannot be. Our cit- inaugurated. things hold together.” To speak of civ- izenship as Christians is a shared citi- The Greek word for “power” used il war among those who are brothers zenship in the kingdom of God, what in Colossians, exousia, which and sisters in this kingdom verges on is called in Colossians the “kingdom of elsewhere in the New denying Christ’s kingship. Jesus his beloved Son,” and here there can be Testament is translated Christ the King “is the head no war. Perhaps this is politically naïve, as “authority,” appears of the body, the church; he but it is theologically true. Among us in Colossians as a des- is the beginning, the first- in the city of man, there are disagree- ignation for Christ’s born from the dead, so that ments, arguments and worse, but if we sovereign rule over all he might come to have first believe that these threaten to rend the other powers, human place in everything.” Since fabric of God’s family, we must remem- or spiritual (1:16; 2:10, through Christ’s victory “God ber that God “has rescued us from the 15). The “power of dark- was pleased to reconcile to him- power of darkness and transferred us ness” is the malignancy of into the kingdom of his beloved Son.” human powers, and especially spir- It is remembrance that is needed, itual powers that seek not salvation PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE for our shared baptism, our shared but destruction. Jesus actually clas- Envision the King whom you worship worship, our shared creeds and most sifies his arrest as under this power: with all your brothers and sisters. Do significantly our shared king, which “When I was with you day after day you consider your common citizenship with those in the church with whom you remind us that we are members of the in the temple, you did not lay hands disagree? How can you create a lived sense same commonwealth. Our common on me. But this is your hour, and the of kinship even when you are at odds with legacy, since we have been rescued from power [exousia] of darkness!” (Lk others? How can you focus on the unity we darkness and transferred into God’s 22:53). share in the kingdom of the beloved Son? kingdom, is “the inheritance of the But the power of darkness could DUNNE TAD ART: saints in the light.” It is God’s initiative not stop Jesus’ cosmic victory or that “has led believers into a new do- the transfer of all those who grasp self all things, whether on earth or in main; their citizenship is now in a new that victory into the kingdom of the heaven, by making peace through the kingdom” (Margaret Y. MacDonald, beloved Son. On the cross, Jesus of- blood of his cross,” we need to honor Colossians and Ephesians). The claim fered citizenship to the repentant thief our brothers and sisters in the church that we have been transferred from one who acknowledged his reign when he by striving for understanding, seek- realm to another, from one “power” to asked, “Remember me when you come ing to create unity, not division, and another, we take not as a leap of imagi- into your kingdom.” As citizens of the working to mend our ways when we nation, or a metaphor, or symbolic, but kingdom, it is our constant work to be have harmed others. The peace that vigilant not to forget the victory that Christ gained for us does not render brings us into the church, which trans- us free from the strife of this world, JOHN W. MARTENS is a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. ferred us with a price from the pow- but there is not a civil war within the Twitter: @BibleJunkies. ers of darkness to God’s kingdom. It Church. The battle that Christ won seems an easy task, but it can be lost in was against the powers of darkness; it the distractions of this world, in polit- is not a battle fought against our fel- ical campaigns, allegiances and allianc- low citizens. JOHN W. MARTENS

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